On Tuesday, June 11, the Bandag Fleets We Depend On roadshow visited the GCR Tires & Service (GCR) store in Auburn, Washington. The roadshow highlighted the important role that fleets, such as delivery drivers, first responders, and school bus drivers, play in the local community. The stop also offered the community a behind-the-scenes look at a unique, environmentally conscious tire manufacturing process known as retreading, which helped save more than 705,000 gallons of oil in the greater Seattle area in 2018.1
Retreading is the process of applying a new tread to a tire casing to extend its time in service. Attendees had an exclusive look at the retreading process through onsite facility tours, demonstrations, customer testimonials and much more.
Launched by Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (Bridgestone) and Bandag, a business of Bridgestone dedicated to the research, development, and manufacturing of premium retread tires, the Fleets We Depend On roadshow is a 27-stop, cross-country event designed to educate the community on the tire manufacturing process and the many advantages of retreading. The campaign promotes the adoption of retread programs for reliable and sustainable mobility.
In Auburn, the Bridgestone team hosted nearly 100 fleet drivers, business owners and community members in a number of activations, including an interactive truck exhibit that featured: a retread trivia competition; an augmented reality step-by-step overview of retreading; a display of a Bridgestone tire that was retreaded twice to last one million miles2; and much more. Attendees also toured the GCR store and manufacturing facility, witnessing firsthand the robust 10-step retreading process and learning how each touchpoint helps deliver reliable quality retread tires.
The Auburn GCR store was a key stop along the tour due to its strong presence in the local community and its sustainable business practices. In 2018, the local team supported over 40 jobs at the retread facility and GCR store. In addition, the retread facility helped save more than 705,000 gallons of oil based on the number of retreads produced in 2018, since each retread uses 15 fewer gallons of oil to produce compared to the manufacturing of new tires.
1. Source: Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau: What is retreading?: https://www.retread.org/learn-more. As compared to the manufacturing of a new tire, one retread saves 15 gallons of oil during the manufacturing process (22 gallons of oil to produce a new tire vs. 7 gallons of oil to produce a retread). The GCR Tires & Service retread facility in Auburn, WA produces 47,000 retreads per year based on 2018 results. If each retread requires 7 gallons of oil to manufacture, total oil usage equals 329,000. New tire manufacturing is approximately 22 gallons of oil per tire, totaling 1,034,000 gallons of oil usage. 1,034,000 gallons for new tire manufacturing minus 329,000 gallons of oil for retread manufacturing equals a total of 705,000 gallons of oil saved.
2. Based on third-party fleet data that one casing reached 1,000,000 miles. Results not typical. Actual results will vary based on application, load ranges, driver and vehicle characteristics, road hazards or other factors. Contact your Bridgestone Sales Representative for more information about tire performance in your application.
The above is a press release from Bandag. The Auburn Examiner has not independently verified its contents and encourages our readers to verify any information they find may be overly biased or questionable.
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