PACIFIC GROVE, CA, MAY 2005 – Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB) is participating in Road Check 2005 – a 72-hour commercial motor vehicle and driver inspection program taking place on June 7-9, 2005 throughout North America. The inspections will be done at inspection sites and in roving patrols along the highways.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) sponsors this annual event, with participation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, Transport Canada, Transportation Security Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Secretariat of Communications and Transportation in Mexico. CVSA is an association of state, provincial and federal officials responsible for the administration and enforcement of motor carrier safety laws in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
As part of the safety inspections, drivers will be given information from TRIB which details the importance of proper tire inflation and provides recommendations on how to correctly check tire pressure. Harvey Brodsky, Managing Director of TRIB, expects that TRIB will distribute 60,000 handouts at more than 68 inspection locations throughout North America.
“TRIB’s intent is to help educate truck and bus drivers about the extreme importance of maintaining the proper inflation pressure for a given tire size and load,” Brodsky said. “This is the single most critical factor for getting the safest – and longest – life out of tires. It also makes them more retreadable.”
Many truckers do not understand that it is the air the inside the tire, and not the tire itself, that carries the weight of a vehicle, absorbs shock and keeps the tire in its proper shape so it may perform as designed, he noted. Inflation pressures also influence handling, traction, braking, load carrying capability and fuel economy.
Tires flex when they roll, which bends the tire’s rubber and steel cords (used within the rubber on the sidewall of the tire to provide additional strength). This flexing generates heat – a tire’s worst enemy, which leads to premature wear and fatigue, and failure of the steel cords.
“Tires with improper air pressure, when driven long enough, will come apart,” stated Brodsky. “It isn’t a question of if, it’s a question of when, and it doesn’t matter if the tire is a retread or one that has never been retreaded.”
Many truckers believe they can accurately estimate inflation pressure by kicking, thumping or banging a tire, he observed. “The truth is, trying to determine if tires need air by doing that is as effective as trying to determine if a vehicle’s engine needs oil by thumping on it’s hood.”
TRIB is proud to be a part of Road Check 2005, said Brodsky, and appreciates the opportunity to educate commercial drivers about proper tire inflation. “The trucking industry and motoring public benefit from safer commercial vehicles and drivers, and our industry benefits from well maintained tires that are more retreadable.”
For additional information, please contact Tire Retread Information Bureau, 900 Weldon Grove, Pacific Grove, CA 93950; toll free from anywhere in North America at (888) 473-8732; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.retread.org
