By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed two changes for the tire identification number (TIN) that appears on all new and retreaded motor vehicle tires sold in the United States. The TIN helps consumers and the industry identify tires when they are subject to recall. The first change would expand the two-symbol code from two to three since the NHTSA is running out of two-symbol codes for identifying specific tire plants. The second change would standardize the length of the TIN to eliminate confusion that may arise from the current variable lengths. The new length would be 13 symbols for new tires and 7 symbols for retreaded tires.
For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.