Daily Times

KARACHI: Generally, tires expire in six years and a tire’s actual age could be gauged by the code stamped on the side of a tire, but General Tyre Pakistan (GTP) does not mention a manufacturing date on its locally manufactured tires, it is learnt.

The GTP, an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) was established by General Tire International Corporation (GTIC) of USA, and currently, the capacity of the company stands at 2.3 million tires approximately and GTR is one of the largest tire manufacturers of Pakistan.

In USA, D.O.T. (Department of Transportation) code is clearly branded or etched on the side of each tire made by GT, yet, the same company in Pakistan does not follow the safety standards.

Reportedly, GTP says they have an internal batch code type of thing on the tire that can tell them about the manufacturing date of the tire, but it is not possible for the buyer to decode that number.

According to international standards, the manufacturer should mention codes on a tire (at least the manufacture date), to make sure it is not old or expired and make sure it has the proper certification (i.e. DOT code or the E-mark).

In this regard, National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP) has sent many reminders to the GTP asking them to adopt the international safety standards by stamping D.O.T codes on locally manufactured tires. However, the company has not bothered to respond to NH&MP’s concerns.

Farhan Ahmed, senior patrolling officer at NH&MP lamented that such a big company, GTP, doesn’t follow the international standards as it is reluctant to emboss DOT code or the E-mark on its tires.

He said tires should have an expiration date older tires are substantially more likely to fail than newer ones.

This is because tires are made mostly of rubber, and rubber degrades with age. Sunlight, heat, ice, and general wear and tear can accelerate the breakdown of a tire.

Once a tire begins to break down, it becomes more likely to fail in the form of a tread separation-often at highway speeds, when the failure is most likely to cause catastrophic injuries or death.

Tires age dangerously because of a chemical process commonly referred to as oxidation, which simply means that as the tire components are exposed to oxygen, and oxygen particles cause the flexible components of a tire to harden and become brittle. Over time, the tire will simply fall apart under normal stress, just like an old rubber band. Because this process occurs naturally, it does not matter if a tire is being used, stored as a spare, or simply waiting on a store shelf for an unsuspecting consumer.

The queries regarding the aforementioned issue, sent to e-mail address available on GTP website, were not answered by the company.