The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued its final report on its Commercial Medium Truck Tire Debris Study.


This study examined 300 discarded tire casings from truck stops and 1,196 tire fragments that were collected along the interstate highway system at five representative locations throughout the country. The casings and tire fragments were examined by tire forensic experts to determine the probable failure type, probable axle location of the failed tire, and the likely reason for the tire failure.

The Tire Retread Information Bureau hailed the study as evidence of what it has said all along -- contrary to popular belief, retreads are not the cause of "rubber on the road."

"The study contains a huge amount of important information about the true causes of tire debris, but it makes clear that retreads are not to blame!" TRIB said in a press release.

The analysis of tire fragments and casings collected found that the proportion of tire debris from retread tires and OE tires is similar to the estimated proportion of retread and OE tires in service.

Of the 1,196 tire fragments that were analyzed, approximately 18 percent were from original tread tires, approximately 68 percent were from retreaded tires, and in approximately 14 percent of the examinations no determination as to original tread or retread could be made.

For those fragments examined that could be assigned to a damage category, the two top categories for removal from service were road hazard (39 percent) and excessive heat (30 percent).

You can download the entire 200-plus-page NHTSA report here