One of the nation's major tire makers is warning North Carolina officials about potential problems with mislabeled, retreaded school-bus tires used in Guilford County and statewide.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber is concerned that the state's retread contractor, White's Tire Service of Wilson, stamped inaccurate information on some reworked Goodyear bus tires. The information suggests the recycled tires can carry up to 15 percent more weight than Goodyear considers safe.

White's Tire also mislabeled those retreaded tires with a recommended inflation level that's too low, a factor that would further reduce the tires' safe carrying capacity below their original rating, said Simeon Ford, manager of Goodyear's office of governmental and customer compliance.

"I have nothing to base a belief that the tires are unsafe, but it is concerning that the load capacities shown on these remolded tires are greater than what we put on them when they were new," said Ford, who sent his letter Jan. 30 to the state Department of Public Instruction.

White's Tire says all its tires are safe and the labeling problem was corrected more than two years ago.

The state Department of Public Instruction is looking into the issue, said Derek Graham of the agency's transportation office.

Guilford County Schools , which uses White's Tire retreads, checked 25 buses recently and found the mislabeled tires on three "spare buses," which are used less frequently than regular buses, so they go longer between tire changes.

After the News & Record asked about the mislabeling issue, the district checked buses at random. The 25 checked are among 251 district-owned buses that use the size tires that were mislabeled, said Jeff Harris, the Guilford system's transportation director.

Harris said his garage staff knows the tires' limitations and uses and would not use them improperly regardless of what was stamped on the sidewall.

White's Tire holds the state contract to supply retreaded tires for school buses, N.C. Department of Transportation trucks and other similar state vehicles.

Goodyear has a similar state contract for new tires, so a significant number of its tires are retreaded in North Carolina.

State law requires schools and state agencies to use retreaded tires wherever possible on their rear axles as a way of recycling and limiting tires buried in landfills.

The mislabeled tires probably are not an imminent threat because school buses, even when full, are relatively light and do not stress tires to their limits, Ford said.

The $2 million a year retreading contract held by White's Tire has raised questions because the company uses a different process than its competitors by covering the complete tire in new rubber. That means it obscures the original sidewall information most retreaders leave untouched.

White's Tire also has attracted scrutiny by heavily charging state government and local school districts for making minor tire repairs, known as "spots" in the industry, that other retreaders say they usually do at no charge. Last year, state auditors said that could be costing taxpayers more than $360,000 yearly in unnecessary charges.

The state retreading contract is due for renewal, but it has been held up for a review by the General Assembly's transportation oversight committee.

"It's just one more thing in a continuing saga," state Rep. Nelson Cole said of White's Tire and the mislabeled tires. Cole, of Reidsville, has served on the transportation oversight panel that is looking into the retreading contract.

State Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro said the mislabeling supports criticism by others in the tire industry who say covering up the original manufacturer's sidewall information invites trouble.

"This is what we've been hearing for two years now," Hagan said.

The mislabeled tires were retreaded before August 2004, when his company initially learned of the problem, said Robert W. White, vice president of the Wilson-based retreader.

It resulted from an error by the Italian firm that manufactured the retreading equipment that White's Tire uses to retread bus tires, White said. Goodyear says its tires of that size have a maximum load limit of 5,205 lbs., but the European equipment changed the load label to 6,045 lbs. on the new sidewall rubber.

White said his company corrected that on all tires it retreaded after discovering the inaccuracy. But it has left the recommended inflation level at 105 psi, not the 110 psi that Goodyear recommends.

In 2004, officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told him it was OK to leave the different inflation level alone, White said.

But Ford, of Goodyear, said he wrote his warning letter to state officials after an NHTSA official recently alerted him to the mislabeling problem.

White said some of its retreaded tires passed tests showing they were capable of bearing the higher load of 6,045 lbs., initially stamped on them.

"We feel like we make the world's safest retreads," White said. "They are pressure tested. We put safety first."

Still, Ford said that any manufacturer would be concerned when its product is reworked, then mislabeled in a way that suggests it can do more than it originally was built to do.



Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or twireback@news-record.com

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