Make Recap Tires Illegal

Yes recaps blowout but so to virgins if they are run underinflated. You run a tire at even 70 psi for 1000 mi running with a heavy load, the tire is already coming apart inside. Especially in hot weather. When I ran with Landstar, their trailer had the auto inflation systems and in 2 yrs there I never had a blowout. A lot of company drivers never check their rigs tire pressure. Just hope they get their load done and leave the low tire for the next guy. Always have. Always will.

 

Trucking companies from the single O/Os on up have been having a hard time getting the tires they are wanting for a while now. Especially in tall rubber. If a law was passed outlawing recaps the price of tires would skyrocket immediately, even before the law took effect. The tire companies simply could not make enough tires to satisfy demand. Trucks would be sitting everywhere waiting on tires.
And as far as the "gators" go, I saw a couple going into Dallas yesterday that had steel strands sticking out. They were virgin rubber, not caps. Recapping technology had come a long way and even though I don't like running them, when correct tire pressure is maintained, most caps give good service.

 

Company runs new tires on the trailers, and the lease company supplying the tractors runs caps on the drives after the originals need to be replaced.

Old casings are trouble, often blowing out the sidewall while the tread stays intact. We got a group of trucks the prior lease outfit bought used, and they should have scrapped all of those tires or at least checked them all for age. And old tires can be bad news no matter how little they have been used, virgin rubber or not.

Quality steer tires have been used wherever I've driven.