The rubber on the shoulder is not the case against retreads
Anyone who drives the interstate has seen strips of tread lying on the shoulder, and plenty of drivers assume they came off retreads. It is one of the most common reasons owner-operators and small fleets give for not using them.
The assumption misses the usual cause. New tires shed tread too, and what a failed tire most often shows is how it was run: underinflated, overloaded, or driven on after damage. A tire running low builds heat in its structure, and heat is what separates tread from casing, whether that tread was molded at the factory or applied at a plant.
Which means the strip on the shoulder is mostly a pressure story, and the thing that prevents it is the same for every tire on the truck.
What actually keeps tread on a tire
- Pressure checked cold and kept at the specification for the load, every position, duals included.
- Damage dealt with promptly. A tire run after a cut or a puncture is the one that comes apart.
- Matched duals. A pair of different diameters leaves one tire doing more than its share.
- Load within the rating. Overloading is heat by another route.
A fleet that does those things gets good service from retreads. One that does not will lose tread from new tires too.
Where retreads usually earn their place
Many fleets run retreads on trailer and drive positions and keep new tires on the steer axle. That is a fleet policy rather than something the store sets, and it is worth deciding before tires are bought.
Where the work happens
This store works with Purcell's retreading program. Casings are collected here in Paducah, retreaded at a Purcell plant such as Potosi, Missouri or Cleveland, North Carolina, and returned ready to run. Casings from equipment come through OTR services, and a fleet account keeps the records together.
This is the Commercial & Consumer listing, the Paducah store that collects casings.
About this store
The Paducah Commercial & Consumer store carries all nine Purcell tire categories and is managed by Austin Hays.
See the national retreading page for how the program works and for all 54 collecting locations.