Retread Tires Lead to Trucking Accidents
They don’t call tractor-trailer rigs “18-wheelers” without reason — although the exact number of wheels and tires may vary depending upon the configuration of the tractor and one or more trailers, they do require quite a lot of rubber on the road. When considering that a commercial truck tire may cost upwards of $500, it’s clear that the monetary investment in tires for a tractor-trailer rig is many times the amount for a passenger vehicle. Once that tire is on the road, the amount of wear available in its tread before reaching the minimum thickness may only carry the truck for a relatively short amount of time — perhaps only a year for a commercial tire used in a local delivery operation where lots of turning tends to wear tires down more quickly. Considering the significant tire investment, commercial trucking companies do not just toss them out when their tread has reached 4/32-inch thickness. Instead, they refurbish tires through the process of “retreading.” Unfortunately, this process does not usually result in a product that is “good as new,” which may lead to more trucking accidents from retread tires.
What is Retreading, and Why is it Attractive to Trucking Companies?
Modern tire manufacturing is a complex process, and there are many different pieces and layers to the typical tire, whether an automobile tire or a heavier commercial truck tire. However, one simple division in the parts is between the inner “casing” and outer “tread.” The tread is one or more rubber compounds bonded to the inner casing, which may be made from various materials, including natural and synthetic cording, steel belts, and/or wires. While the outer tread naturally wears away over time due to friction with the road surface, the inner casing — designed to be resistant to punctures and other damage — may remain intact and functional for much longer than the “tread life” of the tire. Once the tread has worn down to near or below its legal (and safe) limits, a tire casing still in relatively good condition can be given a new tread layer. This is done by removing the remaining layer of outer tread and bonding on either raw rubber or a freshly-made tread band in the “retreading” process, also known as “recapping.”
Depending on vehicle type and driving conditions, a typical commercial tire may wear through its tread anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000 miles for a steering tire to 250,000 to 300,000 miles or more for a non-steering tire. Since the inner casing of the tire — which accounts for most of the cost of a new tire — may be suitable for a million miles or more, and since a retread will only cost roughly half as much as a new tire, it’s easy to see why a typical commercial tire may go through two, three, or even more retreads during its lifetime. Some estimates place the annual savings to the U.S. trucking industry at $3 billion or more from retreading rather than purchasing all new tires.
Some companies specialize in retreading these tires. Smaller trucking and transport companies will often exchange their worn tires with them for retreads or hire these retreading services specifically to refurbish the companies’ own tires. Larger transportation fleets will often do their own retreading work in-house.
Why are there Trucking Accidents from Retread Tires?
Retread tires may fail in different ways. First, the retread will already contain any defects or damage that may already have been present within the inner tire casing from its original manufacture or from accumulated wear during its pre-retread lifetime. Although these casings are supposed to be thoroughly examined for defects or damage before retreading — and should be discarded if the damage is found — the level of attention to this detail may vary significantly from one retreading service to another. A failure in the original tire casing’s steel belt or inner lining may lead to a dangerous blowout.
Additionally, the retreading process itself — called “mold curing” for one process that applies and vulcanizes raw rubber directly to the prepared casing and called “pre-curing” for another method that attaches a pre-made tread band to the casing — may suffer from defects in materials or workmanship. Failure to adequately vulcanize or bond the new tread material to the inner casing may result in tread separation, in which a part of the tread or its entire length may suddenly and disastrously tear away from the inner portion of the tire.
Watch YouTube Video: CSA Tire Inspection. This video from the Tire Industry Association and Michelin Tires describes some of the general aspects of commercial vehicle inspections, then takes a deep dive into tire problems:
Sacramento Truck Accident Lawyer
My name is Ed Smith, and I’m a truck accident lawyer in Sacramento. If you or a loved one has sustained an injury in a trucking accident involving a defective or damaged truck tire or other equipment, please call our injury lawyers at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free and friendly advice. You can also reach us through our online contact form.
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Photo Attribution: Image by Ronald Plett from Pixabay
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