Skip to main content
EVENT TRACKER
Keep track of rescheduled, canceled industry events with our COVID-affected event tracker - Powered by Snap Finance
Close
Sister Publication Links
  • Rubber & Plastics News
  • European Rubber Journal
tb-logo
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • OPINION
    • CORONAVIRUS
    • AUTO INDUSTRY
    • BUSINESS/FINANCIAL
    • COMMERCIAL TIRE
    • FACTORY FIXES
    • GOVERNMENT & LAW
    • INTERNATIONAL
    • MOTOR SPORTS
    • NEW PRODUCTS
    • RETAIL TIRES
    • SERVICE ZONE
    • SEMA/AAPEX
    • SMALL BUSINESS
    • TIRE MAKERS
    • SPONSORED CONTENT
    • TBC Corp. to make donation to company charity to reward vaccinated employees
      Titan to offer free COVID-19 vaccines at Iowa facility
      Bridgestone hosts vaccination events for plant employees
      Cioffi: Will remote working be the new normal?
    • Light trucks/CUVs to take 82% of new U.S. sales by 2028 — SEMA
      SEMA closes deal for SEMA Garage property in Michigan
      Conti adding dynamic driving simulator at German R&D center
      Yokohama gains OE fitments on BMW, Mercedes-AMG sport utilities
    • Ziegler Tire employees receive back pay after investigation
      Goodyear to add 'chatbot' feature to consumer-facing websites
      Prometeon's 2020 earnings off slightly on 15% lower sales
      Light trucks/CUVs to take 82% of new U.S. sales by 2028 — SEMA
    • Michelin adapts 'QuickScan' tire monitoring system to cars
      Prometeon's 2020 earnings off slightly on 15% lower sales
      Fisher: Expect robust recovery in last half of year
      Vipal targets North America for machinery sales growth
    • Ziegler Tire employees receive back pay after investigation
      Bridgestone part of Louisiana environmental settlement
      New York chipping in $3M+ toward Sumitomo factory expansion
      SBA extends and expands COVID-19 loan program
    • Goodyear to supply tires for World Tour bicycle racing team
      Michelin adapts 'QuickScan' tire monitoring system to cars
      Prometeon's 2020 earnings off slightly on 15% lower sales
      Goodyear to highlight international racing effort in ‘GoRacing' e-magazine
    • GT Radial named Formula Drift PROSPEC spec tire
      4WP partnering with CORVA to help protect off-roading in California
      Goodyear to highlight international racing effort in ‘GoRacing' e-magazine
      Goodyear goes retro for 'Throwback' NASCAR race at Darlington Raceway
    • Yokohama OHT adds severe-duty solid tire to Galaxy brand
      Bosch adds 22 aftermarket parts in Q1
      Snap-On introduces TreadReader handheld tire scanner
      Vogue Tyre introduces ‘biggest, boldest' red stripe tire
    • Ziegler Tire employees receive back pay after investigation
      Goodyear to add 'chatbot' feature to consumer-facing websites
      Michelin adapts 'QuickScan' tire monitoring system to cars
      4WP partnering with CORVA to help protect off-roading in California
    • Fisher: Expect robust recovery in last half of year
      Bosch adds 22 aftermarket parts in Q1
      Marinucci: Detailed instructions will save time
      Bartec introduces TPMS software updates
    • Light trucks/CUVs to take 82% of new U.S. sales by 2028 — SEMA
      WTC webinar to address tire/wheel-balancing process errors
      SEMA closes deal for SEMA Garage property in Michigan
      SEMA picks site in Michigan for 2nd SEMA Garage
    • SBA extends and expands COVID-19 loan program
      Stimulus spending should help tire industry
      Giti disputes report blasting tire maker for accepting PPP funds
      SEMA survey shows resilient auto aftermarket in 2020
    • Coopers are ready to rock: Cooper Tire, Alice Cooper seek best garage band
      Last Mile: Delivery surge raises demand for medium truck tires
      Nexen touting manufacturing quality milestone
      Apollo isn't planning U.S. plant — yet
    • Sponsored By Yokohama Tire Company
      7 questions to ask consumers when they need tires for a crossover SUV
      Sponsored By Yokohama Tire Company
      Stocking Tires for Crossover SUVs
      Sponsored By AppointmentPlus
      Three Important Lessons Learned for the Tire Business During a Pandemic
      Sponsored By Yokohama Tire Company
      7 questions to ask consumers when they need tires for a crossover SUV
  • SHOP FLOOR
    • BALANCING
    • DEMOUNTING
    • SAFETY
    • TIRE REPAIR
    • TPMS
    • TRAINING
    • VEHICLE LIFTING
    • WHEEL TORQUE
    • Video: Balancing Tire
      Choosing the right balancing equipment
      Safety tips for wheel balancing
      An introduction to wheel balancing
    • Video: Demounting
      Demounting Equipment
      Making rims ready for a tight seal
      Tire changer types, tips and trends
    • Video: Safety
      Making friends with OSHA
      Ergonomics on the shop floor
      Customers
    • Video: Tire Repair
      Tire repair: Shining a light on visual inspections
      Staying safe when repairing a tire
      Essential tools, materials and equipment for tire repair
    • Video: TPMS Service
      Decoding sensor data for TPMS diagnosis
      Replacement TPMS sensor overview
      The life-saving work of TPMS
    • Video: Training
      Advantages of apprentice program partnerships
      Options and resources for CE tech training
      Internship ideas to attract tech talent
    • Video:Vehicle Lifting
      Jack stands for commercial tire service
      All types of lifts for all types of work
      Tips and recommendations for lifting safety
    • Video: Wheel Torque
      Using torque sticks to speed service times
      The danger of too much, too little torque
      The importance of torque specifications
  • Multimedia
    • VIDEOS
    • PHOTOS
    • PODCASTS
  • Events
    • ASK THE EXPERT
    • LIVESTREAMS
    • WEBINARS
    • SEMA LIVESTREAMS
  • Data
    • DATA STORE
  • Resources
    • DIRECTORY
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • ADVERTISE
  • DIGITAL EDITION
  • Awards
    • Tire Dealer Humanitarian Award
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 11, 2016 02:00 AM

Safety expert pushing for improved tire recall system

Miles Moore
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Photo illustration by Scott Merryweather; photo courtesy of CLemson University
    Sean Kane, founder and president of Safety Research & Strategies Inc. and The Safety Institute.

    HILTON HEAD, S.C. (May 11, 2016) — The tire recall system used in the U.S. has failed for the past 40 years, a leading tire safety advocate contends, and a machine-readable tire identification number (TIN) would go a long way toward making it a success.

    Sean Kane, founder and president of Safety Research & Strategies Inc. and The Safety Institute, delivered this message at the 32nd Clemson University Global Tire Industry Conference, held April 13-15 in Hilton Head.

    “I'm not here to advocate a new system,” Mr. Kane said. “I'm here to argue for a system.”

    Arguing for a strong tire recall system is not the same as arguing that tires are a faulty product, according to Mr. Kane.

    “Today's tires provide consumers with excellent performance and value,” he said. “These highly engineered products are often undervalued by customers. But they are also undervalued by manufacturers.

    “What other product has so much impact on consumer safety and lacks individual, machine-readable traceability from production to end of life?” he said.

    A machine-readable TIN would offer enormous benefits in case of a recall, according to Mr. Kane. A machine-readable TIN would:

    • Improve recall recovery and registration;
    •  Make tire service life recommendations easy to find and manage; and
    • Improve post-market performance data collection.

    Machine-readable TINs easily could be achieved through various available and cost-effective technologies, including laser-etched QR codes, optical character recognition, and radio frequency identification, according to Mr. Kane.

    Tire Industry Association image

    An example of the current, mail-in tire registration form.

    Tire dealers and technicians have no way currently to check tires for recalls, Mr. Kane said. Consumers also can't check for recalls, and manufacturers have put few resources into improving this situation, he said.

    The FAST Act — Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, signed into law Dec. 4 — contains provisions for improving tire registration, but tire registration alone does not equate to tire recall recovery, according to Mr. Kane.

    “You've got to get tires off of vehicles, and you've got to notify consumers,” he said. Efforts to improve tire registration are based on manual registration and an inefficient notification system dating from the 1970s, he said.

    That system is not only inefficient but unfair to tire dealers, who bear a disproportionate burden in recording tire information, Mr. Kane said.

    “Dealers didn't make the tires — manufacturers did,” he said. The mandatory registration system depends on the accurate manual translation of alpha-numeric characters, which is prone to error especially when tire dealers and their technicians have so many other duties, he said.

    “Can you expect an 18-year-old technician to record the information in a high-pressure environment?” Mr. Kane said.

    Another issue unaddressed by tire registration is service life, according to Mr. Kane, a longtime advocate of tire age regulations.

    “Service life recommendations have continued, and now they are in virtually every auto service manual,” he said.

    Department of Transportation photo

    Many tire makers — including Bridgestone Americas, Continental Tire the Americas and Michelin North America Inc. — also have issued service life recommendations, Mr. Kane said. But all these recommendations — as noted by the National Transportation Safety Board — are inconsistent and confusing, sometimes leading consumers to make inappropriate tire replacement choices.

    “Even when the recommendations and warnings are known, finding and decoding a TIN for the date code is counterintuitive,” Mr. Kane said. Compounding the problem is that a 10- or even 20-year-old tire can look brand-new, despite the degradation that certainly has taken place, he said.

    “If you have an old tire that looks perfectly serviceable, you're not going to get rid of it,” he said. “Used tires are big business, and if a scrapped vehicle has a whole spare tire, it's going back into service.”

    This has resulted in countless tragedies on U.S. roads, according to Mr. Kane. He told two stories of drivers innocently putting nearly unused but aged tires on their vehicles. Both tires suffered tread separations, causing rollovers, he said. In one case, the driver was killed and his passenger injured; in the other, the driver was rendered paraplegic.

    “That didn't just cost the driver,” he said of the second accident. “That costs society.”

    Mr. Kane said he agreed with the Rubber Manufacturers Association that tires are not milk. But there are plenty of examples of product traceability in other industries that are pertinent to tires, he said.

    “In 2013, the FDA released a final rule establishing a unique device identification (UDI) system designed to identify devices through distribution and use,” he said.

    “Each UDI must be provided in a plain-text version and use automatic identification and data capture technology.”

    This FDA system, which began in September 2014 and will be phased in through 2020, will offer a range of benefits to all stakeholders, he said. These include:

    • Proper application and reduction of errors;
    • Enhancing analysis through more robust post-market surveillance;
    • Efficient recall management; and
    • A more secure distribution chain, including an effective way to address product counterfeiting.

    “Without the ability to scan a tire, there is no efficient way for service professionals or consumers to determine if a specific tire is recalled or should be replaced based on service life recommendations,” Mr. Kane said.

    “There's not a better product out there than tires,” he said. “It's up to you to show you care enough about it.”

    _____________________________________

    To reach this reporter: [email protected]

     

    Related Articles
    House, Senate pass transportation bill with tire registration (UPDATE)
    NEWSMAKERS: Movers & Shakers of 2015
    TB EDITORIAL: Tire registration: Be proactive
    Auto makers try novel ways to reach recalled vehicle owners
    TIA offers recall efficacy enhancements
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Tire Business would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor Don Detore at [email protected].

    SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Newsletter Center

    Staying current is easy with Tire Business delivered straight to your inbox.

    SUBSCRIBE TODAY

    Subscribe to Tire Business

    SUBSCRIBE
    Connect with Us
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Tire Business is an award-winning publication dedicated to providing the latest news, data and insights into the tire and automotive service industries.

    tb-logo
    Reader Services
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Site Map
    • Industry Sites
    • Order Reprints
    • Customer Service: 877-320-1716
    Partner Sites
    • Rubber & Plastics News
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Automotive News
    • Plastics News
    • Plastics News China
    • Urethanes Technology
    RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    • Terms of Service
    • Media Guide
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Classified Rates
    • Digital Edition
    • Careers
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • OPINION
      • CORONAVIRUS
      • AUTO INDUSTRY
      • BUSINESS/FINANCIAL
      • COMMERCIAL TIRE
      • FACTORY FIXES
      • GOVERNMENT & LAW
      • INTERNATIONAL
      • MOTOR SPORTS
      • NEW PRODUCTS
      • RETAIL TIRES
      • SERVICE ZONE
      • SEMA/AAPEX
      • SMALL BUSINESS
      • TIRE MAKERS
      • SPONSORED CONTENT
    • SHOP FLOOR
      • BALANCING
      • DEMOUNTING
      • SAFETY
      • TIRE REPAIR
      • TPMS
      • TRAINING
      • VEHICLE LIFTING
      • WHEEL TORQUE
    • Multimedia
      • VIDEOS
      • PHOTOS
      • PODCASTS
    • Events
      • ASK THE EXPERT
      • LIVESTREAMS
      • WEBINARS
      • SEMA LIVESTREAMS
    • Data
      • DATA STORE
    • Resources
      • DIRECTORY
      • CLASSIFIEDS
    • ADVERTISE
    • DIGITAL EDITION
    • Awards
      • Tire Dealer Humanitarian Award