News You Can Use

RTA NEWS YOU CAN USE
January 23, 2015

AIR DEFLATION MAY WORK FOR FOOTBALLS
BUT IT SURE DOESN'T WORK FOR TIRES

By

Harvey Brodsky
Managing Director
Retread Tire Association

If you are a football fan in North America you are probably aware of the scandale du jure going on in professional football caused by the alleged under-inflation of footballs used by the New England Patriots in their Sunday victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

I won't go into my personal feelings regarding this scandal except to state that it saddens me and in my opinion it tarnishes the word sportsmanship, and sets a horrible example for young people regarding what is right versus what is wrong.

As an aside, I wear a T-Shirt with the saying, THERE IS NEVER A RIGHT TIME TO DO THE WRONG THING, AND THERE IS NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING. Words to live by.

Now back to why deflation doesn't work for tires. If you have ever spoken to a real estate agent regarding the best place to open a tire store or any other business, you will usually hear the three words, "Location, Location, Location," as being the most important.

There are also three VERY IMPORTANT words when it comes to tires that should be etched into the minds of every trucker, whether he or she has one truck or ten thousand trucks, and if you haven't already guessed, the three most important words are "Inflation, Inflation, Inflation."

By inflation we mean Proper Inflation for the load being carried!

More tires are ruined and money lost by improper tire inflation than any other cause, yet far too many truckers will still resort to pounding the sidewall of their tires with a stick to determine if their tires are properly inflated instead of checking their tires with a calibrated tire gauge.

If they really believe they can tell if their tires are properly inflated by pounding them with a stick, they should then pound the hood of their truck to see if the engine needs oil.

Crazy? You bet!

 There is an old saying that I love, because it is absolutely true! It's simple but it isn't easy. I'm the first to admit that it is not easy to use a good tire gauge to check the air pressure on your tires, especially in a stormy day when the temperature is below freezing, But we should ask ourselves is it better to ignore checking our tires on a regular basis or is it better to have a tire problem thanks to a severely underinflated tire on a rainy or snowy night in the middle of nowhere with no help in sight?

Enough!

You know the rest and now it's up to you to do it. Please remember that THERE IS NEVER A RIGHT TIME TO DO THE WRONG THING AND THERE IS NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING, especially when it comes to tires!

In closing, if you want more information regarding where to purchase calibrated tire gauges, including where to have your gauges checked for calibration, or if you want information regarding where to purchase a master gauge so you can calibrate your own gauges, send an email to info@retreadtire.org and we'll send you a great packet of information not only about tire gauges but also about proper tire maintenance for both new tires and top quality retreads, all with our compliments.

If you are one of the first ten email replies, in addition to the above mentioned packet we will send you a free T-shirt with THERE IS NEVER A RIGHT TIME TO DO THE WRONG THING AND THERE IS NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING written across the front for all the world to see. Please remember to let us know the size of the t-shirts you wear.

Finally, although we love to speak to truckers and invite your calls to 831-646-5269, but in order to obtain the packet and the free T-Shirt you must send us your request by email. I will be happy to speak to you anytime by telephone and will try to answer your tire related questions, and will also be happy to tell you why I have decided to come back as a trucker in my next life. So let's talk. Now go out and have a safe and blessed day.

HARVEY

PS: Kudos and a warm thank you go to Tom Graybill of Paradise Truck Tire Specialists, Inc. in Paradise, Pennsylvania for giving us the idea for this news release. (You get a FREE T-shirt, Tom, just as soon as you send us your size)

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"The secret of happiness
is to count your blessings
while others are adding
up their troubles."
~ William Penn