RMA puts focus on safety, sustainability

HILTON HEAD, S.C.—Safety and sustainability are the keywords for the Rubber Manufacturers Association, said a top RMA executive at the 32nd Clemson University Global Tire Industry Conference.

In today's world, people are thinking about sustainability as a function of how manufacturers treat their customers, said Tracey Norberg, RMA senior vice president and general counsel.

“Sustainability is about positioning your operations in a way that will preserve your company's integrity as you go on,” she said.

Sustainability is a particularly important concept at the RMA, Norberg said, partly because for the first time in several years, the association is growing. Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc. and Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc. joined recently, expanding the group's membership to 10, she said.

RMA members now have 31 manufacturing facilities in 15 states, with South Carolina, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Illinois and Alabama, in order, boasting the greatest number, Norberg said.

Those facilities accounted for 47 percent of tire shipments in the U.S. in 2015, she said. Of those shipments, 81 percent were passenger tires, with 11 percent light truck and 8 percent truck and bus, she said.

The RMA's efforts on safety and sustainability are demonstrated by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, which President Obama signed into law in December, Norberg said.

Although the FACT Act's provisions on tires are only a small part of a gigantic bill, she said, those provisions are very important to the RMA. They include:

• Minimum performance standards for tire fuel efficiency and wet traction;

• A return to mandatory tire registration at the point of sale; and

• An online recall database for tire owners.

The FAST Act, according to Norberg, is “putting the pieces together” on tires and fuel economy, connecting consumer tire ratings and information with actual performance standards.

Since 2007, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has had a directive to create a consumer tire information program for fuel efficiency, wet traction and treadwear, she said.

NHTSA issued a bare-bones tire fuel efficiency final rule in 2010, but left the details for later. Currently, the agency is scheduled to issue a consumer information proposal by July 27, 2016, with comments due by Sept. 29. However, judging from experience, these dates are far from certain, Norberg said.

The FAST Act performance standards will work to bolster the EISA rating system, according to Norberg. When complete, the system will:

• Allow consumers to compare tire fuel efficiency, wet traction and treadwear across brands and models;

• Foster greater competition among manufacturers on these performance traits; and

• Help reduce fuel consumption.

The FAST Act minimum standards have the same scope as the consumer information rule, according to Norberg. They require NHTSA to set thresholds for tire fuel efficiency, with separate ratings for tires speed-rated below V and those rated V and above, she said.

The standards cannot have a disparate effect on high-performance tires, according to Norberg. Having minimum standards will eliminate the least fuel-efficient tires from the U.S. passenger tire market, she said.

For wet traction standards, the RMA proposes an internationally recognized and used test method, consistent with global passenger tire regulations, Norberg said. Wet traction standards should be designed to assure rolling resistance is not achieved at the expense of wet traction, she said.

The FAST Act requires NHTSA to benchmark the wet traction performance of tires available for sale in the U.S., Norberg said. The minimum standard and consumer information tests must be identical, and the wet traction standards must be promulgated at the same time as fuel efficiency standards, she said.

“Other nations have adopted minimum standards for tire efficiency and wet traction,” she said. “Catching up to other nations will help to ensure that the United States does not become a dumping ground for lower-performing tires that do not meet other countries' standards.”

NHTSA is mandated to promulgate the regulations within 24 months of FAST Act passage, and the RMA wants to see full implementation of the new standards by 2020, Norberg said.

Before the FAST Act, point-of-sale registration was required only at company-owned tire stores, she said.

The FAST Act requires NHTSA to promulgate a rule to require independent tire dealers and distributors to record the names, addresses, tire information numbers and other information specified by NHTSA, and to transmit that information electronically to tire makers or their designees at no charge to tire buyers.

The RMA would like to see vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and either email addresses or mobile phone numbers added to the required registration information, according to Norberg.

Lists of VINs are maintained by state motor vehicle departments, she noted. “This would allow a way to update consumer information based on tire purchases.”

The FAST Act's requirement for NHTSA to establish a publicly available and searchable electronic database of tire recall information, similar to its vehicle recall database, is also of major importance in getting recalled tires off the road, Norberg said.

As well as working with NHTSA in determining how best to identify tires for the database, the RMA is creating its own recall search tool, based on data received from its members. When launched, the search tool will contain information on recalls from 2000 to the present, Norberg said.

“RMA members recognize that safety related to tires in-use is of primary importance,” she said. RMA members comply with NHTSA safety standards, and the association's ongoing educational efforts encourage drivers to play their part in tire safety, she said.

These activities, according to Norberg, are an integral part of the RMA's ongoing safety-and-sustainability program. Besides the aforementioned activities, that program includes:

• Improving the safety culture within RMA member facilities, driving corporate cultures toward shaping world-class health and safety standards;

• Increasing energy efficiency at tire plants;

• Developing uniform key sustainability performance indicators for tire manufacturing;

• Reducing both manufacturing and vehicular greenhouse gas emissions;

• Using natural rubber, a renewable and green resource, in tire manufacturing;

• Collaborating on research projects to better understand the health and environmental impacts of materials used in the tire industry;

• Promoting environmentally and economically beneficial end markets for scrap tires, as well as effective tire management in developing countries; and

• Ensuring that tires are produced under lawful and ethical conditions.