1. No category

Used Tire Sales Dangerously Roll On Without Supervision
By Rich Newsome
Used tires have become a staple of the modern tire marketplace. According to recent
estimates, somewhere between 30 and 35 million used tires are sold in the U.S. each year,
and this number is likely to grow in a tight economy.1 Anyone interested in opening a used
tire business can find a variety of “how-to” guides on the Internet.2 Some retailers simply
opt to sell used tires directly online.3 Consumers buy them to save hundreds of dollars over
new tires; retailers sell them to recoup the higher profit margins over new tire sales.4
But used tires often present unseen and unknown hazards to consumers, who
believe that with sufficient tread depth and no obvious visual impairments, they are buying
a sound product.5 The reality is that many tire-related crashes can be traced back to a used
tire. Tires are highly engineered products, but like anything else, they have limits. Age,
poor maintenance, microscopic cracks, repairs, and harsh storage conditions can take their
toll – and many of these defects cannot be discerned by the naked eye. Yet, millions of used
tires are sold without a proper inspection, without knowledge of their history of use and
repairs. They are unregulated and untraceable.
1 Alex Nixon, Used Tire Seller Finding Business Doesn’t Revolve Around Internet, TRIBLIVE.COM,
http://triblive.com/home/1288412-74/tires-champtires-rea-sales-online-company-market-million-tiregrowth (April 30, 2012) (quoting Dan Zielinsky, a senior vice president of the Rubber Manufacturers
Association, as stating that “[a]necdotally, we think [the used tire market] may be expanding,
especially through the recession") [hereinafter Nixon, Used Tire Seller].
2 See, e.g., Shanika Chapman, How to Open a Used-Tire Shop, EHOW.COM,
http://www.ehow.com/how_6188990_open-used_tire-shop.html (last visited May 31, 2012); Louise
Balle, How to Run a Used Tire Shop, EHOW.COM, http://www.ehow.com/how_8253757_run-used-tireshop.html (last visited May 31, 2012).
3 Nixon, Used Tire Seller, supra note 1.
4 Safety Research & Strategies, “Aged” Tire Cases Numbers Grow: Spares and Used Tires Top the
List, http://www.safetyresearch.net/2005/04/01/aged-tire-case/ (last visited May 31, 2012).
5 Safety Research & Strategies, Used Tires: A Booming Business with Hidden Dangers,
http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/Used_Tires.htm (last visited May 31, 2012) [hereinafter SRS,
Used Tires].
As members of the industry have recognized, litigation arising from the sale of
defective used tires is becoming more commonplace.6 Yet, seeking civil justice for plaintiffs
who have suffered severe injuries or death in a crash caused by a defective used tire is
hardly an easy task. Understanding the used tire business and its practices is critical to
understanding potential defendants, who are not always obvious or easily identified, yet are
key to understanding the liability issues in these cases. 7
An Industry with No Rules
Used tires come from a variety of sources – salvage yards, scrap heaps, classified ads
– but most are returned to the marketplace via large multi-state recyclers, who make
money on both ends of the business. Dealers pay the tire recyclers one to two dollars per
tire to pick up and dispose of them. In some cases, shop managers set aside tires with more
than the legal tread depth and sell them for cash to the recyclers. In others, the shop
managers receive direct payment based on the percentage of grade-off – tires that have
legal tread and are re-saleable.
The tires are brought back to a recycling facility where they are sorted and graded.
Any tire that appears sound and has at least 2/32nds of tread depth is culled for re-sale.
See, e.g., Jim Smith, Sell Used tires If You Must, Just Know What You Don’t Know, TIRE REVIEW,
http://www.tirereview.com/Article/78009/sell_used_tires_if_you_must_just_know_what_you_dont_kn
ow.aspx (Aug. 9, 2010) (“If you want to sell used tires, that’s fine. Some will even praise your efforts.
Just know what you don’t know, and understand that every used tire you sell is another round of
Lawsuit Roulette.”); William Shcertz, Far-Reaching Used Tire Concern: Liability,
TIREBUSINESS.COM,
http://www.tirebusiness.com/subscriber/headlines2.phtml?cat=17&headline=Farreaching%20used%20tire%20concern:%20Liability&id=1287587713 (last visited May 31, 2012)
(“Liability was the dominating theme during the Sept. 22 used tire panel discussion at the ITEC
show, where panelists Harold Herzlich, Ron Sutphin and Jim Lautzenheiser shared their
experiences on the subject—offering encouragement tempered with caution.”)
7 Safety Research & Strategies, Used Tires: A Booming Business with Hidden Dangers,
http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/Used_Tires.htm (last visited May 31, 2012) [hereinafter SRS,
Used Tires].
6
According to the deposition testimony of one national used tire wholesaler who provides
millions of used tires annually to shops around the U.S., saleable tires were separated from
the load by graders via a visual inspection as they moved down a conveyor belt. In this
manner, graders might “inspect” as many as 22,000 tires in a shift, before turning the
potentially useable tires for further visual inspection, detailing and inflation to ready the
tire for re-sale.8
Some used tire dealers take unorthodox, and arguably, deceptive steps to conceal
visual defects, including painting the tires to make them appear to be new.9 For example,
in May a fire broke out at an Antioch, California tire shop after a mechanic lit an illegal
firework while tire shop employees “were using a mixture of gasoline and tar to make used
tires look better.”10 Afterwards, “[t]he shop's owner admitted using the combination of
gasoline and tar to paint the tires to make them look newer,” but “defended it as common
practice.”11
Most used tire dealers have little to no formal training in tire sales, inspection or
repair. Nor do they have knowledge of industry warnings or best practices. Used tire
dealers do not receive manufacturer’s Technical Service Bulletins or recall notices because
they do not sell new tires. One owner of three used tire stores located in central Florida
testified that he frequently sold used tires that had pre-existing patch only repairs, despite
numerous industry warnings to scrap such a tire. That particular owner had no knowledge
of any of the industry guidelines, warnings or recommendations.
8
In fact, discovery in
SRS, Used Tires, supra note 6
SRS, Used Tires, supra note 6.
10 Sean Maher, Police ID Man Suspected of Lighting Firework That Sparked Massive Antioch Fire,
CONTRA COSTA TIMES, http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_20583632/police-id-mansuspected-lighting-firework-that-sparked (May 9, 2012); KTVU.Com, Employee Arrested In
Connection with Fire at Antioch Tire Shop, http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/tire-fire-producingmassive-plume-black-smoke-conc/nNzC2/ (May 8, 2012).
11 Id.
9
multiple cases shows that used tire sellers do not have the basic knowledge to decipher a
tire’s Tire Identification Number, (also known as the DOT code) an alphanumeric sequence
which indicates when and where the tire was manufactured, or even know where to check
for a vehicle’s recommended tire inflation pressure.
The distribution and sale of used tires are not subject to any federal regulations – only
state laws regulate legal tread depth. A “[l]ack of records tracking the tires back to
wholesalers—or in many cases even the retailers—is the norm.”12 The absence of any
information about a tire’s provenance constitutes a significant danger to the consumer. The
purchaser of used tires hardly, if ever, knows the history of the tire. Tire manufacturers
usually rely on the lack of knowledge of the history of a used tire to defend themselves
against defect lawsuits. Without proper documentation of the tire’s history, it may be
impossible to hold the retailers and the tire recyclers who supply the used tires to the
retailers, accountable for their actions.13
For their part, tire manufacturers have generally stayed away from addressing used
tire hazards for fear of anti-trust allegations and of affecting its dealer relationships. In a
2007 industry dealer profile study, 74 percent of tire dealers acknowledged selling used
tires, which generate significantly greater profits compared to sales of new tires.14
However, some tire makers have privately acknowledged that they have a responsibility to
ensure proper disposal of scrap tires to ensure public safety.
Unseen Defects
Id.
SRS, Used Tires, supra note 7.
14 Used Tires, Tire Review Sept. 2007, Vol. 107, No. 9
12
13
In June 2007, Bridgestone/Firestone announced that it would stop selling used tires
at its 2,200 retail outlets, to focus entirely on new tire sales.15 Its decision came in the wake
of a Rubber Manufacturers Association technical service bulletin urging consumers and
retailers alike to avoid used tires. The RMA warned that used tires were risky, because
they had an unknown history and “may have been exposed to improper service,
maintenance or storage conditions and may have been damaged, which could eventually
lead to tire failure.”16 The bulletin listed seventeen conditions that would render a used tire
unfit for further service, including bead or inner liner damage, punctures, and indications
of internal separations. The RMA bulletin came on the heels of negative publicity and the
fear of potential regulation as consumer advocates were identifying used tires as a
significant source of tire-related fatal crashes.
One danger the RMA neglected to mention was tire age. The RMA stands alone in
denying that a tire’s age has any connection to its safety or robustness, but the industry has
known for decades that exposure to heat and oxygen (thermo-oxidation) can cause the
rubber in a tire to deteriorate.17 18 19 20 21 A tire is composed of layers of rubber and steel
belts bonded together in the manufacturing process by heat and pressure. Regardless of
road wear, over time, the combination of the heat generated in the tires themselves and the
breakdown of the rubber components by oxidation causes a tire to age or degrade.”22
BFS nixes used tire sales at its stores; Jennifer Mussig; Tire Business; June 18, 2007
Rubber Manufacturers Association, Passenger and Light Truck Used Tires,
http://www.rma.org/tire_safety/tire_maintenance_and_safety/used_tires/ (last visited May 31, 2012).
17 The Absorption of Oxygen by Rubber, Rubber Chemistry Technology, G. T. Kohman, 1929
18 Tire Durability with Nitrogen Inflation, Rubber Age, Vol 99, No. 11, L. Sperberg, 1967
19 The Effect of Tire Aging on Force and Moment Properties of Radial Tires, M. Pottinger; K.
Marshall, 1981
20 Accident Avoidance - How Age Deterioration Can Affect Car Safety, M. A. Jacobson; F. I. Mech,
1982
21 Long Term Durability of Tires, N. Tokita; W. D. Sigworth; G. H. Nybakken; G. B. Ouyang, 1985
22 Research Report to Congress on Tire Aging, August 2007
15
16
As early as 1990, some vehicle manufacturers included tire age warnings in their
owner’s manuals, driven by German studies showing that tire-related crashes were strongly
associated with tires older than six years. Today, nearly all vehicle and tire manufacturers
warn consumers against using tires older than six to 10 years because they degrade
internally, regardless of use. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has
affirmed that “[o]ld tires . . . are subject to greater stress, which increases the likelihood of
catastrophic failure.”23 This is particularly problematic for consumers in the used tire
market because “[t]he effects of aging may not be visibly detectable,” and “[s]ince there is no
standard test to assess the serviceability of a tire, even an inspection performed by an
expert may not always reveal the extent of tire deterioration.”24
Consumer Awareness and Proper Inspections are Key
The used tire market could be made safer, but it will take regulation and industry
recognition of the dangers posed by used tires. First, consumers and tire sellers have to be
educated about the dangers of tire age. In a 2006 human factors study, only four percent of
225 participants “identified aged tires as a potential cause of tire failures.”25 While the
study did not assess the knowledge of tire professionals, it is doubtful that your average tire
technician would do much better.
23
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Consumer Advisory: Motorists Urged to Check
Tires Before Summer Trips, http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/NHTSA_Advisory_Aging.pdf
(June 2, 2008).
24 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tire Aging,
http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shoppers/Tires/Tires+Rating/Tire+Aging (last visited May 31,
2012).
25 Jennifer A. Cowley, Soyun Kim & Michael S. Wogalter, People Do Not Identify Aging as a Safety
Hazard, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting—2006,
http://www.hfes.org/Web/HFESNews/tireaging.pdf (last visited May 31, 2012).
Second, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration must adopt regulations
forcing tiremakers to display the date of manufacture on both sides of the tire in a noncoded format. The 2006 study also showed that the success rate for determining the date of
manufacture was as low as nine percent.26 For decades, the industry has resisted any rules
to make a tire’s date of manufacture easily accessible and understandable. As early as
1970, when NHTSA and the industry were hashing out the format of the Tire Identification
Number, Firestone, in particular, argued that the bureau should adopt the RMA’s twosymbol date code expressly because consumers couldn’t read it. “Tires are not perishable
items,” Firestone argued in a petition to the agency. “Therefore, a conspicuous disclosure of
tire age would unavoidably introduce into the marketplace a totally artificial measure of
quality unrelated to product performance and effectiveness.”27 The current regulations only
require that the full Tire Identification Number with the date of manufacture be molded on
one side of the tire. If the full TIN is mounted on the inside, a consumer would have to get
underneath his vehicle with a flashlight, pad and pencil to retrieve the number.
Policymakers in California, New Jersey, Hawaii and Maryland have attempted to
step in where the federal government has failed to act, by passing state laws requiring the
disclosure of a tire’s age – all of which, if passed, would have significantly reduced the size
of the used tire market. But none have succeeded in the face of fierce industry resistance.
The most recent defeat occurred in February, when a bill, sponsored by twenty-two
members of the Maryland House of Delegates, requiring tire merchants to provide the tire’s
date of manufacture on the customer’s receipt and a written disclosure concerning the
26
27
Id.
The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company; Docket 70-12-No.1-076
effects of tire aging, died in committee.28 The hearing was packed with tire dealers
organized by the Tire Industry Association, to testify against it.29
Third, if used tires are to remain a significant slice of the market, its purveyors must
be held to standards that ensure a tire’s safety. Recalled and dangerously aged tires should
automatically be disqualified for re-sale. Used tire graders and sellers must be trained in
tire safety. The former must be required to carry adequate insurance against the possibility
of an unsound tire making its way back onto a consumer’s vehicle.
Proper and thorough inspections should include a shearographic scan, a nondestructive method of examining a tire’s internal robustness, like an MRI for a tire. This
automated and low-cost process is feasible for the large used tire wholesalers.
Used tires, like new tires, must be made traceable, to ensure that consumers can verify the
tire’s history, and to ensure that tortfeasors can be held accountable when a used tire
results in an injury to a consumer.30
These changes would benefit consumers and the used tire industry. It is the ethical
course – and the financially prudent choice for tire sellers who are named in civil death and
injury claims. Until then, dangerous and defective used tires will continue to be recycled
into service; motorists and passengers will pay a heavy price for a cheap tire, and litigators
will be left with the detective work of piecing together the chain of commerce and seeking
justice for the victims.
28
House Bill 729, http://mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/bills/hb/hb0729f.pdf (last visited May 31, 2012).
Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., Tire Dealers Rally for RMA and Against Customers on Tire
Aging Bill, http://www.safetyresearch.net/2012/02/22/tire-dealers-rally-for-rma-and-againstcustomers-on-tire-aging-bill/ (Feb. 22, 2012); TireReview.com, Md. Tire Aging Bill is No More,
http://www.tirereview.com/Article/98200/md_tire_aging_bill_is_no_more.aspx (Mar. 15, 2012).
30 Id.
29