WASHINGTON (May 4, 2010)—The U.S. Department of Transportation is running out of three-letter retread plant identification numbers and is seeking help from the retread industry to help it determine which codes it has issued are no longer being used.
The DOT has asked the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau to help it get this message out to the industry, TRIB said recently.
Unless the DOT can determine which three letter codes are obsolete, the agency will have to begin assigning four-letter codes, something TRIB said the agency indicated it does not want to do.
TRIB therefore is appealing to both retread systems suppliers—such as Bridgestone Bandag, Michelin Retread Technologies, Goodyear, etc.—and individual retreaders to furnish the DOT or TRIB with information on codes that are no longer in use.