The success of the tire fuel-efficiency standard depends on the participation of tire dealers, and TIA has the best chance of reaching those dealers, according to Mr. Rohlwing.
Mr. Littlefield said his association could ensure the fuel-efficiency standard doesn't suffer the fate of the Uniform Tire Quality Grading Standard (UTQGS), which remains largely unknown to consumers after more than 30 years.
Rep. Al Wynn, D-Md., and a sponsor of the legislation that contained the tire fuel-efficiency provision when he served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he was concerned that the bill passed in 2007 still has not been fully implemented.
"There were significant and lengthy debates about the methodology for the rating/labeling program," he said. "This resulted in stops, starts and delays.
"While we appreciated the supplemental information request for the program, it does not appear that sufficient initial thought was given to these issues or to the practical limits of a paper label on a tire," Rep. Wynn said.
TIA offered NHTSA a detailed plan to work in a public-private partnership with the agency to train employees of tire dealerships to give customers a concise description of the tire efficiency rule's importance and meaning.
"NHTSA declined this approach in favor of a more passive consumer education model featuring reading materials and infographics, some of which require electronic equipment not found in most tire stores," TIA said.
NHTSA promulgated the final rule on tire fuel efficiency in March 2010, but left the final language on labeling format, testing and consumer education for a later date. March is the latest target date for those provisions, but the agency has missed several previous deadlines.