Product
Oliver Rubber Awarded Retread Contract
FINDLAY, OHIO, June 7, 2004 – COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY (NYSE:CTB) and its subsidiary Oliver Rubber Company, was recently awarded a 10-year contract to retread U.S. Postal Service tires nationwide. Utilizing state-of-the-art precure and mold-cure technology, Oliver will rely exclusively on their network of existing independent tire dealers, in addition to selected current suppliers, to perform the required work.
Oliver manufactures and distributes tread rubber and retreading systems through an extensive network of licensed dealers. Acquired by Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in 1999, Oliver Rubber Company has been producing quality rubber products since 1912.
"The Postal Service speculates that they are currently using retreads on 20 percent of their fleet; however, they want to increase that number to 70 percent," said Oliver director of retread sales and marketing Phil Boarts. "We are in the process of meeting with more than 80 of their major vehicle maintenance facilities (VMF) to accurately determine the current status of the Postal Service’s retread program."
The Postal Service maintains 208,000 ground vehicles, of which 142,000 are considered long-life vehicles (LLV), resulting in additional retread opportunities for Oliver. The majority of the LLV vehicles are equipped with 14- and 15-inch tires. According to Boarts, mold cure will be utilized for these vehicles to allow for improved ride characteristics of the mold-cure product.
"While the size of this whole project seems to be growing daily, we are making good progress in learning what we need to know about the current Postal Service operations," continued Boarts. "We are very excited about the opportunity for the U.S. Post Service to control their tire and retread costs and accurately manage their tire and retread program. Plus, we believe this will help grow the retread business for our existing and prospective retread shop customers, and add some good new volume of tread rubber sales for Oliver and Cooper Tire."
Company Description
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, specializes in the manufacture and marketing of products for the global automotive industry. Products include automotive, motorcycle and truck tires, inner tubes, tread rubber and equipment, as well as sealing, trim, NVH control systems and fluid handling systems. Cooper has more than 20,000 employees and 52 manufacturing facilities in 13 countries. For more information, visit the Company’s web site at: www.coopertireandrubber.com.
Company Contact: Michelle R. Zeisloft, (419)424-4251