Les Schwab Tire Centers has filed a lawsuit against Hexpol Compounding, seeking $3.9 million in damages connected to the company’s first tire recall in its history, according to Central Oregon’s The Bulletin.
Les Schwab says in the lawsuit that Hexpol Compounding supplied a gum rubber compound that it used to retread commercial truck tires before discovering the glue had issues, according to the lawsuit.
In March 2018, Les Schwab recalled 41,000 retreaded tires in which the gum rubber was used during the curing process. With warranty returns, defective tires and the recall, Les Schwab says it suffered $3.9 million in damages.
“At Les Schwab Tire Centers, the safety of our customers is always on our minds. So when we saw a pattern of similar tread loss in a series of commercial truck tire warranty exchanges, we vetted the manufacturing process and found that a lack of a proper bonding between the new tread and existing tire casing compromised the end product and increased the frequency of tread separation,” said Dale Thompson, chief marketing officer at Les Schwab Tire Centers.
“While there have been no incidents or injuries associated with this matter, in an abundance of caution, we recalled potentially affected tires at no cost to our customers,” Thompson continued. “It’s important to all of us at Les Schwab to keep our customers safe by providing top-quality products that we can stand behind. And we look to our partners to do the same, which is why we are turning to Hexpol Compounding to take responsibility and reimburse the cost of the commercial truck tire recall.”
Tracy Garrison, president of Hexpol Compounding Americas, did not respond to a call in request for comment.