After waiting nearly five years for NHTSA to move forward with mandated tire fuel efficiency testing, labeling and consumer education, TIA says enough is enough.
In a statement issued yesterday, TIA called out the federal agency for “the continued delay of the implementation of the tire consumer education program, the consumer information collection methodology and the promulgation of the rules for the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.”
The Energy Act of 2007 included RMA-developed language calling for a national tire fuel efficiency testing and tire labeling effort, as well as a dedicated consumer education program to improve tire care and help consumers use the new labeling system. That provision of the Energy Act was to be enacted by December 2009.
NHTSA did issue its first pass regulations in June 2009, and semi-final rules in March 2010, but it had not sorted out all elements of the consumer education effort. TIA, meanwhile, has pressed NHTSA hard to be put in charge of the consumer education program, which would avail to it millions of dollars to develop, implement and manage a national effort.
“The goals of the Tire Fuel Efficiency Consumer Information Program are to increase fuel efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase America’s energy independence,” TIA said in its statement. “The Energy Act of 2007, which mandates the program, called for the promulgation of rules as of December 2009, yet the agency has yet to issue them.
“Part of the comments TIA submitted are that the education of consumers on the proper inflation and maintenance of tires can begin almost immediately and be available by the beginning of 2012 and that the law must be bifurcated to allow this process to begin. The association does agree that the tire efficiency labeling system included in EISA requires additional deliberation,” the statement continued.
“TIA assisted NHTSA in amassing data during Phase I of the research process connecting the agency with tire dealers. However, there are serious concerns about the upcoming quantitative research phase and its reliance on data gathered via an online survey approach.”
“Since NHTSA research has an especially targeted audience of consumers who are purchasing tires, conducting the questionnaires in stores is the ideal circumstance,” said TIA president Mike Berra. “Online surveying has numerous issues, including its reliance on closed ended questions, being online is a completely different circumstance than when a consumer is in an auto service shop buying tires and the fact that so many online surveys are veiled sales scams, therefore many Americans avoid online surveys because of a previously bad experience."
Roy Littlefield, TIA executive vice president, said, "Surveying a customer while they are in the process of purchasing new tires will yield more accurate results, giving NHTSA a direct, focused snapshot of the tire purchase experience."
