Retreads Don't Cause Rubber on the Road

Excerpts from a recent speech given by Harvey Brodsky, Managing Director of TRIB, the Tire Retread Information Bureau, at the Recycled Products Procurement Seminar sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in Baton Rouge, where Brodsky was the Keynote Speaker. THE RETREAD INDUSTRY FACES A MAJOR IMAGE PROBLEM AND THAT PROBLEM IS RUBBER ON THE ROAD. YET, THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF RUBBER ON THE ROAD IS CAUSED BY TIRE ABUSE, WHETHER THE TIRE IS NEW OR RETREADED AND HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH HOW THE NEW TIRE IS MANUFACTURED OR HOW THE WORN TIRE IS RETREADED.  THE CULPRITS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETREAD INDUSTRY'S BAD IMAGE ARE OUR BEST FRIENDS AND OUR WORST ENEMIES - WHO HAPPEN TO BE ONE AND THE SAME: THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY.  MILLIONS OF TRUCKS HAVE SAFELY USED RETREADS FOR COUNTLESS BILLIONS OF MILES OVER THE YEARS. THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY IS VERY FIRMLY CONVINCED OF THE SAFETY, PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF RETREADED TIRES. AS I SAID, THEY ARE OUR BEST FRIENDS.  BUT THE TRUCKER IS ALSO OUR WORST ENEMY AND HERE'S WHY.  WHEN YOU OR I HEAR A "THUMP - THUMP" SOUND, WE KNOW WE ARE HAVING THE BEGINNING OF A TIRE PROBLEM, PROBABLY A FLAT, AND WE IMMEDIATELY PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND FIX IT. WE REALLY HAVE NO CHOICE UNLESS WE CHOOSE THE RISK OF DOING SERIOUS DAMAGE TO OUR AUTOMOBILE.  WHEN A TRUCKER HEARS THAT SOUND HE IS FACED WITH A CHOICE. UNLESS THE PROBLEM IS WITH A FRONT STEERING TIRE, THE TRUCKER CAN USUALLY KEEP MOVING, SINCE HE HAS 17 OTHER TIRES TO HOLD THE VEHICLE.  THIS IS, UNFORTUNATELY, THE COURSE OF ACTION TOO OFTEN TAKEN. HIS REASONING IS THAT IT IS CHEAPER TO TRY TO MAKE IT TO A TRUCK STOP OR HIS DESTINATION WHERE THE TIRE CAN BE QUICKLY CHANGED THAN TO HAVE THE TIRE CHANGED ON WHAT MIGHT BE AN IMPOSSIBLY CROWDED HIGHWAY.  SO THE TRUCK KEEPS MOVING AND THE TIRE  BY NOW IS QUICKLY BEGINNING TO DISINTEGRATE, THE TREAD BEGINS TO FLY ALL OVER THE HIGHWAY.  NOW IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER THE TIRE IS A NEW TIRE OR A RETREAD. THE TIRE IS STILL GOING TO COME APART, LEAVING RUBBER ON THE ROAD!  HERE YOU COME BEHIND THE GUILTY PARTY AND YOU SEE THE STRIPS AND CHUNKS OF THE DESTROYED TIRE ALL OVER THE HIGHWAY . LET'S SAY FOR THE SAKE OF THIS DISCUSSION IT WAS FROM A NEW TIRE AND NOT FROM A RETREAD.  BUT SINCE YOU DON'T KNOW THE REAL REASON WHY THE HIGHWAY IS LITTERED WITH THIS RUBBER, YOU THINK, "THERE GOES ANOTHER RETREAD! THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW..."  SO YOU SEE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE RETREAD INDUSTRY SUFFERS FROM A SERIOUS IMAGE PROBLEM WHICH IS WHOLLY UNDESERVED. RETREADED TIRES IN ACTUALITY PERFORM EXACTLY THE SAME AS COMPARABLE NEW TIRES. THERE IS NO QUESTION WHATSOEVER THAT THEY ARE EXACTLY AS SAFE AS NEW TIRES, AND RETREADS ARE A LOT MORE ECONOMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY.  I HOPE YOU'LL REMEMBER MY STORY ABOUT THE TRUCKER WHO DECIDED TO "KEEP ON ROLLIN' " THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE RUBBER ON THE ROAD. BECAUSE ONCE YOU KNOW THE FACTS, I HOPE YOU WILL REALIZE THAT RETREADS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR RUBBER ON THE ROAD.  THANK YOU.

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