From Tire Review Staff & Wire Reports
BOWIE, MD — Even though the constitutionality of checkoff programs rests in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court and any action toward a tire industry program is months, even years, away, the Tire Industry Association today announced a new name for its proposed checkoff program – Tire Initiative for Research, Education and Safety (TIRES).
“We felt the check-off program name meant nothing to most dealers,” said Dick Gust, TIA president. “The new acronym now tells you exactly what the program is and should help everyone in the industry understand what it’s all about.”
TIA said the goals of the TIRES Program remain the same as the checkoff program it outlined nearly two years ago. “With the permission of Congress and approval by the tire industry through a referendum, a small fee that is passed on to consumers would be charged on new and replacement tires sold in the U.S. and used on highway vehicles,” TIA said in its statement.
“A new organization, the National Tire Safety, Research and Education Alliance would be specifically created to collect the funds and coordinate a national program to finance consumer education campaigns, tire industry personnel training programs and research and development. A percentage of the funds would also go to state and regional tire dealer associations to support their efforts in these three areas, as well,” TIA said in its release. “A board of directors made up of people representing tire dealers and marketers, importers, tire manufacturers and other tire industry-related professionals would manage the Alliance.”
TIA created a draft outline for the basic structure of such a program, which it issued in 2003. Since then, attempts to garner support from industry groups, such as state associations and the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), have met with mixed results. In 2004, the RMA, which conducted talks with TIA on the program’s merits, refused to support the program, claiming it would be held unconstitutional.
Since, then constitutional questions over the checkoff programs supporting the beef and pork industries made their way to the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on the case before the holiday recess. It is expected that the court, which has twice tackled constitutional issues surrounding aspects of checkoff programs (there are more than 60 such industry-specific programs in operation today), would issue its ruling later this year. The future of any tire industry checkoff program, observers say, rests with the court’s decision and any guidance the court may offer that could help such programs clear constitutional questions.
TIA said it plans to meet with tire dealers at state and regional tire dealer association meetings, supplier meetings and marketing group meetings throughout 2005 “to explain the framework of the program and obtain their input regarding the details of how the program should be structured in order to devise a program that satisfies the desires of the tire industry.”
“We want the involvement of every citizen of the tire community that would be affected by this program to ensure the TIRES Program truly reflects the wants and desires of the industry and each dealer can take ownership in it as well as benefit from it,” Gust said.
TIA said it believes the tire industry needs a “coordinated national program to foster consumer education, industry training, research and development. A national program would reflect positively on the entire industry since it would demonstrate the industry’s commitment to ensuring safe tire use, professional servicing, and furthering product improvement through industry-funded research and development.”
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