A new, “non-denominational” decal honoring OTR tire technicians and the vital role they play in OTR tire service is now available from Purcell Tire & Rubber Co.
Purcell Tire is already putting the decal on its service trucks.
Mason Hess, director of Potosi, Mo.-based tire dealership’s global mining division, is encouraging other OTR tire dealers to do the same.
“This isn’t so much a Purcell Tire thing,” he says. “It’s an industry thing. The decal is non-copyrighted. Anyone can use it. Everyone can take this and share it. You can put it on trucks. You can put it on shirts.
“This is to honor the most important people in our industry. It’s free to everyone - as long as it’s used with the intent to support and appreciate tire techs."
Hess says tire technicians have the most dangerous job “on any mine site. They are dealing with pressurized vessels which contain energy that can blast them a mile (away). Nobody else at the mine site deals with those types of energies on a regular basis.
“Not to say other things in mining aren’t dangerous, but I know that tire techs who work in mines deal with very serious situations and have to be on their toes. They should be respected for it.”
The tire industry can do a better job of showing appreciation of tire techs, according to Hess.
“When people work in our business and leave, the number one reason they cite is, ‘I don’t want to change tires for the rest of my life.’ That’s a sad statement for us as an industry. Appreciating and supporting and honoring techs so they see themselves as being valuable is a piece of the puzzle – and hopefully that translates into a career. It shouldn’t be, ‘Oh, he’s just a tire guy.’”
Purcell Tire printed 400 decals before the 2023 Tire Industry Association OTR Tire Conference, which took place this past February.
More can be ordered from Purcell Tire.
“I would love to see these decals go on trucks and patches and shirts and hard hats – everything," says Hess.
To order decals, email [email protected].
