Hesitant about using retreads on your truck because reliability is the single most important factor in your tire purchase decisions? You may want to reconsider. It's  2003, and retreads have come a long way. Retreads are considered durable enough for takeoffs and landings by all major commercial airlines an military aircraft. School buses throughout the world trust their precious passengers to retreads. And those small package companies that guarantee their delivery times well, their hot cargo is also riding on retreads.

    Today, it just doesn't make good economic sense not to use this cost effective, environmentally friendly product. From an economic standpoint, you really can't be a serious player in today's competitive trucking business and not use retreads. Those new radial tires on your truck are designed to be retreaded. In fact, when the original tread is worn off the casing, you have realized less than 30 percent of your tire investment. To recover the rest of that investment you must rely on multiple retreading. At somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 the cost of a new tire, retreads represent a real value. But will you get as many miles from a retread as the original tread? In some cases you may get even more miles.

    It was recently reported that a contract carrier from Ohio logged 496,917 miles on a complete set of eight drive-axle retreads. This trucker who gets excellent miles from his new and retreaded tires, because of his extensive maintenance program, has never had a premium new tire that approached the half million mile mark.

    But what about all the scrap rubber we see along the highway? Isn't that caused by peeled retreads? No, it certainly isn't. close examination will indicate that in almost every instance there is wire in the rubber they put on a casing. The wire in the scrap rubber along the highway is a clear indication that there was a casing failure. Those failures are generally caused by a heavy load on an improperly inflated tire or a tire that has suffered a road hazard. As the driver continues on the deflating tire, it becomes hotter and hotter, until it comes apart and litters the highway with scrap rubber. And it doesn't matter whether the tire is new or a retread.

    Finally, it is important to consider the environmental advantages of retreading. Tires are basically petrochemical products. It takes 22 gallons of oil to manufacture one new truck tire. Since most of that oil is found in the tire casing, which is reused in the retreading process, it takes only 7 gallons of oil to retread that same tire. The 15 gallon per tire oil savings adds up quickly. A second environmental advantage is realized at already overcrowded landfills throughout the world. Each time la tire is Retreaded, the disposal option is avoided. With an average of 3 retreadings per casing, the disposal problem can be reduced by up to 75 percent. If you still think retreads may be all right for the other guy but not for you, consider this - last year truckers purchased about 18.7 million retreads and only about 13.5 million new replacement tires.

    Think of it, more retreads than new replacement tires. That equates to an industry operating cost savings of about 3.4 billion dollars. If you are not running on retreads you didn't enjoy any part of those savings. If you are now convinced you would like to get in on the savings, we would offer this suggestion. Buy that first set of retreads from a local reputable dealer at your home domicile. (see Retread Tire Buyers Guide.) Then you'll have someone to go to if you have any problems. Far too often the retread industry image has been hurt by a ruthless resale person who has taken advantage of truckers on the road, because he knows you are between a rock and a hard place when you need a tire 1,000 miles away from home. Don't let a bad experience with one of these unscrupulous individuals ruin your interest in a product that could make your trucking operation more profitable.