The Gateway Tire & Service Middle Tennessee Region has decided to switch their wheel weight inventories over to a non-lead solution.
“We know that it is only a matter of time before the state of Tennessee or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency bans lead wheel weights,” says Garth Bouldin, regional retail manager. “It is important for us to get out in front of the issue, be proactive, and be able to switch out our 11 locations on our own timetable.
“We don’t want to be forced to make a decision without time to understand the best alternatives, or be unable to properly train our employees on the installation differences non-lead alternatives present.”
The Gateway Tire & Service Middle Tennessee Region decided to switch their wheel weight purchases moving forward over to zinc-based wheel weights from Perfect Equipment. The transition from lead wheel weights to zinc wheel weights happened over a designated time period, allowing for current lead inventories to be used up, zinc wheel weight assortments to be brought in and proper employee training to take place.
“We decided to make the switch to zinc because the weights look and function so much like the traditional lead weights we were all used to,” says Garth.
Zinc wheel weights are used on nearly 95% of all new vehicles manufactured in Europe, including high-end luxury brands like Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley, Volvo and BMW, according to Perfect Equipment.
Gateway Tire & Service, a Dunlop & Kyle Co., is a leading retail tire and service center chain with locations in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Ohio. The Middle Tennessee region features tire and service stores in Nashville, Cool Springs, Murfreesboro, Gallatin, Columbia and other select middle Tennessee cities.
For more information, see www.dktire.com. To learn more about Perfect Equipment, visit www.perfectequipment.com.
