TANA elects 10 new directors
RESTON, Va.-The Tire Association of North America (TANA) has elected 10 individuals to three-year terms on its board of directors.
Chosen in what was only the second membership-wide election in the association's 80-year history were:
John Adams, Big O Tires Inc., Englewood, Colo.; Gary Albright, Becker Tire, Great Bend, Kan.; Barbara Briggs, Briggs & Sons Tire, Fayetteville, N.C.; Ernie Caraminico, Amityville Firestone, Amityville, N.Y.; Jim Melvin, Tire Pros Inc., Johnston, R.I.; Bud Mullaney, Mullaney Tire Service, Matawan, N.J.; Don Nebelsick, Don's Tire and Supply, Abilene, Kan.; Jim Short, Radial Tire and Bandag, Jasper, Ala.; Doug Swanson, Modern Tire Co., Eden Prairie, Minn.; and Stu Zurcher, Zurcher Tire and Auto, Angola, Ind.
The new board members will be inducted at TANA's Annual Meeting and Hall of Fame Breakfast, Oct. 30, in Las Vegas. The board has 36 members with 10 new members elected each year. Six officers serve on the association's executive committee.
TANA members received ballots in May.
Labor Dept. delays ergonomics action
WASHINGTON-The Labor Department has issued a notice saying the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will delay issuance of its action plan on ergonomics, scheduled for the end of September.
The department and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration have been too involved in rescue and recovery efforts to give their full attention to ergonomics, the notice said.
Congress invoked the little-used Congressional Review Act last March to repeal the Clinton administration's final rule on ergonomics, which the tire industry and other business interests insisted would ruin them.
OSHA held public forums on ergonomics this summer in Virginia, Illinois and California.
Officials approve Concorde flights
LONDON-The civil aviation agencies of the United Kingdom and France have agreed to restore certificates of airworthiness to the Concorde fleet, the aviation authorities announced, provided the supersonic airliners are retrofitted with Kevlar-reinforced rubber fuel tank liners and use Group Michelin's new Near Zero Growth tires on the main landing gear.
The U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the French Direction General de l'Aviation Civile both issued mandatory airworthiness directives detailing the required changes to the aircraft.
Safety advocate Ralph Hoar dies
ARLINGTON, Va.-Ralph W. Hoar, 56, founder of the transportation safety advocacy Web site Safetyforum.com, died Sept. 21 at Virginia Hospital Center. He had prostate cancer.
Mr. Hoar founded his product safety research firm, Ralph Hoar & Associates, in 1989. It became a nationally known information resource for safety advocates and plaintiffs' attorneys.
In 1996, he founded Safetyforum.com, through which he became a leader in the call for expanded investigations of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and Ford Motor Co. during last year's 6.5-million-tire recall.
Bridgestone will up run-flat output
TOKYO-Bridgestone Corp. plans to increase annual production of its Potenza run-flat tires 75-fold to 1.5 million units by 2005.
The tire maker makes 20,000 run-flats a year now at its plant in Saga Prefecture, Japan.
Following its first commercial fitment on the BMW Z8 two years ago, Bridgestone's Potenza run-flat also is being fitted to the Lexus SC430, and as an option by Toyota Motor Corp. on its new Soarer model and Nissan Motor Co. on its new Infiniti model in the U.S.
If punctured, the Potenza run-flat tires can be driven at speeds of up to 55 mph for 50 miles, according to Bridgestone.
BFS, Goodyear join TRMG
AKRON-Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has joined the Tread Rubber and Tire Repair Materials Manufacturers Group (TRMG), comprising about a dozen suppliers to the tire retreading and repair markets.
The TRMG, in August, also agreed to welcome Goodyear, which officially will become a member at the group's next meeting Oct. 30, during Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week in Las Vegas.