Joe Burke, vice president, North America commercial and global aviation, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., says The Retreaded Tire Jobs, Supply Chain Security and Sustainability Act of 2025 would positively impact retreaders.
He believes now is the best time for the Retreaded Tire Jobs, Supply Chain Security and Sustainability Act of 2025 to be passed in both the House of Representatives and Senate.
Earlier this year, Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16) and Congresswoman Emilia Sykes (OH-13) reintroduced the Retreaded Tire Jobs, Supply Chain Security and Sustainability Act of 2025.
Burke has made numerous trips to Capitol Hill to lobby for the bill to be passed. “It’s basically trying to make sure that we’re supporting the (retread) manufacturing aspect of this business,” he says.
The bill proposes a 30% federal tax credit, up to $30 per tire, for fleets that purchase commercial truck tires that have been retreaded in the United States.
"Retreading is key when it comes to supporting fleets across the U.S. and over the past 20 or 25 years, the amount of retreaders, nationally, has diminished significantly.
Retreads are “still a very high-demand product that supports the commercial (trucking) industry,” he says. “There’s over 15 million retreaded tires that are sold annually.”
Burke says the new bill is not just supported by Goodyear, but by many other tire manufacturers, as well. "When you talk about up to a 30% tax credit – that’s significant. It creates that competitive advantage.”
Burke says he has been to Washington D.C. three times in the past nine months in support of the bill. He has met with members of the House and Senate and he says there is really no pushback from legislators.
Part of the message is that the bill supports American jobs. "When people get the understanding around that, it just makes sense. How are going to support manufacturing in the U.S? How are going to support companies in the U.S. and then what are we doing to support the fleets and the trucking companies that are out there purchasing and utilizing these products day in and day out?”
Support for retreaders
Burke says the bill supports retreaders in multiple ways. "You have retreads that are provided for a lot of large national accounts or government fleets that are out there, but then you also have retreads that are provided for a lot of local book, transactional fleets that work with the dealer network that’s out there supporting them,” he explains.
"If you are offering a tax credit or tax incentive on every single retreaded product that is purchased, that goes directly to the fleet customer. That’s a huge benefit.”
This will then drive more business through servicing tire dealer networks, he adds. "Within our network, we have 80 retreaders and those others are independent business owners that partner with us,” explains Burke. "This is just going to drive a lot more demand into those dealers.”
Industry response
Burke says Goodyear and other companies have been raising awareness around the bill. "We want awareness out there, so that those independent owners or independent business leaders could reach out to their congressmen or congresswomen and just make them aware of what we’re trying to push forward and the benefit that it could lead towards. People are out there that want to help and they want to move these businesses and industries forward.
“The trucking industry is like the backbone of what this country stands for and creating these types of opportunities to help compete from a manufacturing side, but also support from a cost side, is beneficial on both sides.”
Status of bill
Burke says when the Retreaded Tire Jobs, Supply Chain Security and Sustainability Act of 2025 was introduced in the House, multiple members sign onto it. Now the focus is on getting the bill introduced in the Senate and getting additional representatives to sign onto it.
"You want to put it in a position where you know by year-end, there’s an opportunity for it to be enacted ... then it goes into effect,” he says.
About the Author
Madison Hartline
Associate Editor
Madison Hartline (Gehring) is the associate editor for Modern Tire Dealer and Motor Age. Since joining MTD after graduating from The Ohio State University in 2022, she has taken on the role of managing the brand’s social media strategy, producing podcast episodes and overseeing eNewsletter content.