U.S. DOT issues 13 new tire plant codes in 2018-19

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued 13 new DOT plant identification codes in the past year for tire factories worldwide, including six for plants in China and four in India.

This is a measurable drop from the past few years, when the number of new codes issued numbered in the dozens each year. In addition, the DOT reassigned six existing codes to other plants.

Tire manufacturers wishing to sell tires intended for use on U.S. roadways must have a DOT code for each plant, and that code must be molded into the sidewalls of each such tire, according to DOT regulations.This story appears in the Feb. 18 print edition of Tire Business.The new codes bring to more than 1,050 the number of plants worldwide with at least one DOT code.

The new codes include just one in the Americas, 03L, for Group Michelin's plant in Leon, Mexico, operated by Industrias Michelin S.A. de C.V.

India's CEAT Ltd. was issued two codes, for plants in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India (03A), and Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India (03N). CEAT recently has begun or ramped up sales efforts in North America and Europe.

Other new codes issued are:

• Agarwal Rubber Ltd., Hyderabad, India — 03J
• Directorate for Construction of Rubber Plants L.L.C., Angren, Tashkent, Uzbekistan — 03C
• Jiangsu Runchang Rubber Technology Co. Ltd., Suqian, Jiangsu, China — 03D
• P.T. Hung-A Corp., Bekasi, Indonesia — 03H
• Qingdao Puregain Tyre Co., Qingdao, Shandong, China — 03M
• Qingdao Summit Rubber Industry Co. Ltd., Qingdao, Shandong, China — 03R
• Roadboss Rubber Technology Co. Ltd., Dongying, Shandong, China — 03F
• Shandong Giki Tyre Co. Ltd., Qingdao, Shandong, China — 03K
• Shandong Runtong Rubber Co. Ltd., Rizhao, Shandong, China — 03P
• Vee Rubber India Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedebad, Gujarat, India — 03E 

The DOT did not explain its reason for reassigning the existing codes. They are:

•  16A reassigned to Shandong Kaixuan Rubber Co. Ltd.; previously assigned to Roadstone Tyre & Rubber of Thailand, which also uses 6A.
•  17R to MRF Ltd. for Pondicherry, India, plant; previously assigned to Dongying Weide Tyre Co. Ltd., which also uses 7R.
•  1UB reassigned to OJSC Yaroslavl in Yarsolavl, Russia; previously assigned to Shandong Hengyu Science & Tire, which also uses UB. Yaroslavl also has three other codes assigned to it: AR, 1AR and UB.
•  1V5 reassigned to Shandong Guopeng Rubber Co Ltd.; previously assigned to Bridgestone/Firestone de Mexico, which also uses WF.
•  1W6 reassigned to Shandong Changhong Rubber Technology; previously assigned to MSF Tire & Rubber Inc. in the Philippines, which closed in 2001.
•  1XF reassigned to Jiaozuo Plant; previously assigned to Pirelli, Manresa, Spain, which closed in 2009.

Some details about the companies mentioned here:

Agarwal Rubber — ironically this Mumbai, India-based two-wheeler tire company is now out of business following a fire in April 2018 that destroyed the company's lone factory.

Jiangsu Runcheng Rubber is a producer of solid tires under the brand names Energy and GiantPower.

P.T. Hung-A, a subsidiary of South Korea's Hung-A Co. Ltd., produces OTR tires under the Tiron brand.

Qingdao Puregain Tyre is a motorcycle and bicycle tire and tube producer going to market under the Puregain, HRD, Maxima and Titan Moto brands.

Qingdao Summit Rubber is a producer of motorcycle and small industrial tires and tubes, in business since 1998,

Shandong Giki Tyre is a producer of bias-ply OTR, agriculture, industrial, solid, truck and light truck tires.

Shandong Guopeng Rubber specializes in research, development, manufacturing and sales of high-end performance automobile tires.

Shandong Kaixuan Rubber is a truck and OTR tire producer, under the Deemax, Greforce and Kaiyue brands.

Vee Rubber India is a subsidiary of Thailand's Vee Rubber Group dedicated to two-wheeler tires.

An online search for Roadboss Rubber Technology did not turn up any relevant information.

The tire manufacturer is not required to test the tires, but if they are sold in the U.S., they are subject to random testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), with penalties assessed if the tires fail to be in compliance with federal standards.

Tires found not in compliance with these federal standards will be subject to recall and the manufacturer is subject to civil penalties of up to $6,000 per tire — up to a maximum of $17.4 million for any related series of violations, according to agency documents.

The new codes reflect the agency's policy of replacing the decades-old two-place alphanumeric system with a three-place identity.

The DOT switched out of concern that it would run out of two-place IDs.

In all but a few cases, the DOT added the numeral "1" in front of the existing code to create the new code. Exceptions to this practice are those codes that include "G," "S" or "Q" due to the potential for misreading a G or an S for a 2 or Q for 0, for example.