Are there Federal standards and a Qualified Products List (QPL) for retread tires?
September 7, 2000: GSA used to operate the Federal Tire Program, which issued specs and maintained a QPL for all tires except military tactical tires — and which was liked by the new tire and retread tire industries. To put it nicely and succinctly, GSA no longer operates this program, over the objections of the tire industry and the Army. So, the Army, which is the lead for tires, took back responsibility for tire specs and the QPLs. The Tank Automotive and Armaments Command has specs for tires, including retreads, based on the old GSA specs. Mark Swift, who formerly worked for TACOM, runs the QPL program as a TACOM contractor. The web site that the Power Marketing Admin’s Safety Office identified belongs to Mark. CTQP means Cooperative Tire Qualification Program. In short, yes there are Federal standards and a Federal QPL. For more info, contact TACOM’s Team Tire at 810-574-6303.
