Retreading in Fenton, MO

Ask most people about retreads and they picture a semi on the interstate. In a metro area, the fleet with the most tires is often something else entirely: delivery vans, box trucks, service trucks and pickups running the same routes every day.

Those vehicles wear out tires quickly and steadily, and their casings can be good candidates for retreading. Light truck and commercial casings are among the types the Purcell program retreads, so a van or box truck fleet is worth asking about, not only a fleet of tractors.

Whether a particular casing qualifies depends on its size, its construction and its condition, and that is decided at inspection. The point is to ask the question, rather than assuming the program is for somebody else's trucks.

Not every position suits a retread. Fleets commonly start with the positions that are easiest on a tire and work from there, and the store can say which of your vehicles and sizes make sense.

A fleet running vans on short routes also tends to retire tires before the casing is worn out, because the tread wears evenly and nobody is pushing the tire to its limit. That is exactly the kind of casing worth collecting.

This store works with Purcell's retreading program. Casings are collected at Fenton and taken to the Potosi plant, Purcell's founding address and one of its seven retread plants, then returned ready to run. Setting it up through a fleet account keeps track of which casings went out and which came back, and wheel refurbishing can be done while the tires are off.

Washington and De Soto also collect casings for Potosi.

The Fenton store carries all nine Purcell tire categories and is managed by Daniel Garcia.

See the national retreading page for how the program works and for all 54 collecting locations.