Michelin Retread Technologies (MRT) is expanding its Covington, Ga., manufacturing facility as part of its plan to meet the continued increase in customer interest in Michelin retreads.

John Yarbro, facility manager, said, "This expansion is necessary to meet the demand for additional tread volume, but will also allow us to remain in step with our new tire technology with features such as co-extruded rubber, extra wide treads for the new X One wide single tires and other technically-advanced tread features.
"This is the first major expansion of our facility since we began operation in November 1999," Yarbro said. "We are doubling the volume, but more important, we are adding high technology volume." The facility, located southeast of Atlanta, produces a variety of Pre-Mold treads for MRT franchises and retread plants throughout North America.
MRT offers Pre-Mold treads for long haul, regional, on/off road, urban and now sanitation specific applications. Tread rubber products include full-width tread for the new generation X One wide single truck tires, which replace two dual tires on truck drive and trailer axles and co-extruded extra deep drive treads for extra miles and cooler running operating temperatures.
Michelin Retreads bring new-tire technology to existing retreaded tires, offering proven tread designs and higher quality standards to deliver a reliable retread specifically designed to customer needs. MRT treads are built with Michelin proprietary tread rubber compounds and patterns, which allow the retread to mirror new Michelin tire aspects and performance.
Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America Inc. (www.michelintruck.com) employs 23,920 and operates 21 plants in 17 locations.