normally i dont put my govt. stuff up here..but this is good news for all Americans on the highway......
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Gsa Fleet Operations
“Tire Tip’s and Facts”
(A new informal publication to “keep you rolling”)
NHTSA has finally updated the Federal Tire Testing Performance Standards……………..
The old one is dated back in the late 60’s !!!
For years, when I was manager of the Federal Tire Qualification Program in GSA, I hammered DOT about these standards being outdated, that they were written around bias ply tire technology….that any radial tire made could pass the standards…which meant we have “unsafe” tires on our highways……….. well…..duh!
Maybe with the recent major tire failure trends they were able to get the necessary political support to do it………. Because with the battle against it put up by the tire industry……..it almost took an act of God to get this thing passed and “in service”.
Now the kicker: they don’t take effect until June 1, 2007.
The new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 139 replaces the existing 35-year-old Standard 109 for all radial tires for passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, and trailers weighing less than 10,000 lbs.
Exempt from the new standard are bias ply tires, small trailer tires, retread tires (dern it.. the retread industry fought heavily to exempt themselves and won…based on the fact that the cost of testing was “unreasonable” for retreaders and that the new tire casing had already passed. Personally, I don’t think they could pass the testing! ), and non-pneumatic spare tires.
The nice thing about this new standard is, it’s the first time that light truck tires (LT), load range C, D, and E, have to meet stringent performance requirements. In the past…they did not.. (Wonder what prompted this? Ha!)
A centerpiece of the new standard is the high speed and endurance testing…which is stricter than in the old 109 but still not as stringent as DOT first proposed. The high-speed test rules specify testing speeds of 140, 150 and 160 kilometers per hour, while the endurance test requires speeds and distances 50% longer than the old standard.
The new standard also requires a low inflation pressure test that seeks to ensure a minimum safety standard for tires when they operate at 20 psi, which is the minimum inflation at which tire pressure monitoring systems will be required to warn motorists of “unsafe inflation” (another “HA”!) NHTSA was quoted saying this about that: “This requirement mirrors conditions of long distance family travel and will assist in ensuring that tires will withstand conditions of severe under inflation during highway travel under fully loaded conditions”…… in other words….we can’t get the general population to check their tire pressures on a regular basis……….
Some of the specific items, which I dearly hoped would be strengthened, did not get addressed yet: road hazard impact testing, aging testing, and bead unseating resistance testing. NHTSA said it needed to conduct more research before they could put forth meaningful testing requirements more relevant than already exists in Standard 109…….
NHTSA estimates the new standard will cost the tire industry between $3.6 million and $31.6 million annually, with an annual prevention of one to four deaths and 23 to 102 injuries……. They also estimate that 5 to 11% of the tires currently running will have to be redesigned to achieve compliance. The first estimate that NHTSA released was that 1/3 of the tires on U.S. highways would fail the new standard. That……was an attention getter……..for sure! The industry itself took it a step further and said that 40%! Of the passenger car tires would fail! And over 50% of the LT tires would fail!
The “big” concern right now? To quote industry: “We fear that many specialty and snow tires will not be able to pass these tests and will therefore remove these tires from the marketplace”……….. Well……dooh! If they are NOT safe…. That’s a no-brainer to me!!
Ken Collings
GSA Fleet Operations
Your “tire guy” ;o)
In the next Tire Tips & Facts……… “The Inflation Pressure Issue”
________________________________________________
______________________________________________
Gsa Fleet Operations
“Tire Tip’s and Facts”
(A new informal publication to “keep you rolling”)
NHTSA has finally updated the Federal Tire Testing Performance Standards……………..
The old one is dated back in the late 60’s !!!
For years, when I was manager of the Federal Tire Qualification Program in GSA, I hammered DOT about these standards being outdated, that they were written around bias ply tire technology….that any radial tire made could pass the standards…which meant we have “unsafe” tires on our highways……….. well…..duh!
Maybe with the recent major tire failure trends they were able to get the necessary political support to do it………. Because with the battle against it put up by the tire industry……..it almost took an act of God to get this thing passed and “in service”.
Now the kicker: they don’t take effect until June 1, 2007.
The new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 139 replaces the existing 35-year-old Standard 109 for all radial tires for passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, and trailers weighing less than 10,000 lbs.
Exempt from the new standard are bias ply tires, small trailer tires, retread tires (dern it.. the retread industry fought heavily to exempt themselves and won…based on the fact that the cost of testing was “unreasonable” for retreaders and that the new tire casing had already passed. Personally, I don’t think they could pass the testing! ), and non-pneumatic spare tires.
The nice thing about this new standard is, it’s the first time that light truck tires (LT), load range C, D, and E, have to meet stringent performance requirements. In the past…they did not.. (Wonder what prompted this? Ha!)
A centerpiece of the new standard is the high speed and endurance testing…which is stricter than in the old 109 but still not as stringent as DOT first proposed. The high-speed test rules specify testing speeds of 140, 150 and 160 kilometers per hour, while the endurance test requires speeds and distances 50% longer than the old standard.
The new standard also requires a low inflation pressure test that seeks to ensure a minimum safety standard for tires when they operate at 20 psi, which is the minimum inflation at which tire pressure monitoring systems will be required to warn motorists of “unsafe inflation” (another “HA”!) NHTSA was quoted saying this about that: “This requirement mirrors conditions of long distance family travel and will assist in ensuring that tires will withstand conditions of severe under inflation during highway travel under fully loaded conditions”…… in other words….we can’t get the general population to check their tire pressures on a regular basis……….
Some of the specific items, which I dearly hoped would be strengthened, did not get addressed yet: road hazard impact testing, aging testing, and bead unseating resistance testing. NHTSA said it needed to conduct more research before they could put forth meaningful testing requirements more relevant than already exists in Standard 109…….
NHTSA estimates the new standard will cost the tire industry between $3.6 million and $31.6 million annually, with an annual prevention of one to four deaths and 23 to 102 injuries……. They also estimate that 5 to 11% of the tires currently running will have to be redesigned to achieve compliance. The first estimate that NHTSA released was that 1/3 of the tires on U.S. highways would fail the new standard. That……was an attention getter……..for sure! The industry itself took it a step further and said that 40%! Of the passenger car tires would fail! And over 50% of the LT tires would fail!
The “big” concern right now? To quote industry: “We fear that many specialty and snow tires will not be able to pass these tests and will therefore remove these tires from the marketplace”……….. Well……dooh! If they are NOT safe…. That’s a no-brainer to me!!
Ken Collings
GSA Fleet Operations
Your “tire guy” ;o)
In the next Tire Tips & Facts……… “The Inflation Pressure Issue”
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to happen.
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