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NORTH AMERICA NEWS
Oklahoma’s T&W Switches to Michelin
One of the latest converts to MRT in the USA has been T&W Tire Inc.. According to T&W managing partner Steve Theissen, the move was based on a number of plus points, including growth potential, common market strategy and supplier support.
"Michelin's overall business plant aligned more closely with what we want to accomplish at T&W," he said, explaining his decision to move the Oklahoma City-based dealership to the Michelin camp after being allied with Goodyear for the past 27 years.
The move was announced by both parties in May and will boost the Michelin service network by another 14 locations. T&W is Michelin’s first MRT outlet in Oklahoma State.
"It was a tough decision," Mr. Theissen said, noting the change had been under consideration for up to a year.
While the dealership is moving full bore to achieve the changeover, Mr. Theissen said it's a "privilege" to have worked with Goodyear the past two and half decades. T&W Tire was Goodyear's commercial dealer of the month in July 2009.
He lauded Goodyear for having
a first-class product and for being a solid, reliable supplier, but in the end, "I felt our business philosophy moving forward had more in common with that of Michelin's."
Mr. Theissen, son of company co-founder Darrell Theissen, said he was impressed that Michelin is making the investment in products, support services and personnel and training to help T&W grow. "They're working on the old theory of selling your way to profits," he said, "and that applies to their approach to independent dealers."
T&W is in the process of converting its retread plants in Oklahoma City and San Antonio to the MRT process "as quickly as possible," Mr. Theissen said. The Oklahoma City plant will become an MRT hybrid plant— comprising both the Custom Mold mold-cure and Pre-Mold precure processes—while San Antonio will be strictly a Pre- Mold plant.
Together the two plants should be capable of nearly 500 retreads a day when fully on stream, he said.
Bus Company Owner Indicted on 2008 Texas Crash
In 2008 a Texas based tour bus crashed killing 17 passengers. After lengthy investigations the owner of the bus, Angel de la Torre and an associate, have been charged with making false statements on federal forms and other offenses stemming from the crash in Sherman, 60 miles north of Dallas. The indictment was returned on May 30, authorities said in a news release, and de la Torre and his associate were taken into custody when the indictment was unsealed. The indictment charges de la Torre and his company, Angel Tours, with one count of conspiracy to make false statements, four counts of making false statements and one count of operating a commercial motor vehicle after being placed out of service.
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the crash was caused when a retreaded tyre on the right front axle was punctured by an unknown object. The retread itself wasn't cited as the cause, but the NTSB noted that the tyre was affixed to the front axle illegally, that Angel Tours didn't have the authority to leave Texas and that the company that inspected the bus wasn't equipped to judge whether it should be on the road.
The indictment alleges that de la Torre and Carlos Ortuno, 52, made false statements on government
documents seeking motor carrier authority. It also alleges that they operated a commercial motor vehicle after it was placed out of service because of an unsatisfactory safety rating. The rating followed an inspection that uncovered numerous record-keeping and safety violations.
Each of the charges relating to the false statements carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Continuing to operate a commercial motor vehicle after it was placed out of service carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $25,000 fine.
The NTSB also found that the bus driver had used cocaine at some point before the accident. However, he wasn't charged with a crime because the cocaine was found in his urine, not his blood, making it likely he wasn't impaired at the time of the crash.
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