Government – owned Jamaica Ultimate Tyre Company is Jamaica’s leading retreader of tyres.

The 19-year-old company, which currently employees 40 people, shares the same acronym as its more eminent parent company, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), despite going in opposite directions in terms of profitability.

For example, when the tyre company projected a net profit of $21.57 million, up from $19.22 million, in 2018/19, the transport company was gobbling up some $5 billion in a desperate effort to improve its service to commuters in the Kingston and St Andrew Metropolitan Region, which includes urban St Catherine.

Transport and Mining Minister Robert Montague must feel relieved when he speaks to the public about the improvements at the tyre company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company.

In fact, the minister has been urging its employees to “become evangelists” for the entity and “tell people about the various services”.

Although its core business is retreading tyres, it has expanded its offerings to include tyre packages to taxi associations and larger groups, as well as providing services such as wheel alignment and balancing, front-end inspection, as well as truck and car washing.

Its external customers include other government entities, and has been named the leading tyre retreading company in Jamaica and one of the leading tyre dealerships.

The company, based at Maxfield Avenue in Kingston, boasts a retreading plant capacity of 12,000 tyres per eight hour shift, supplying retreaded tyres which cost less, and environmentally friendly and significantly reduced solid waste disposal.

Th retreading is done by utilising the customers’ old tyres, or high-level casings imported by the company from the Asian, North American, or European markets.

In the meantime, the company intends to modernise and retool its plant, to boost efficiency and productivity, and provide a reliable, competitive and cost-effective source of new and retreaded tyres, along with related tyre services.

The company boasts the latest equipment and machinery for balancing of tyres. All its technicians are experts who perform diagnosis and make suggestions as to when wheel alignment is required.

Why should you retread your tyres?

You are at a greater risk of experiencing flats or blowouts with worn tyres, which are more susceptible to damage and have less wet weather traction.

When do you need to retread your tyres?

Once the tyre tread is worn.

The economic features of retreading include:

* Retreaded tyres give the same mileage as comparable new tyres, and at a lower cost per mile;

* The cost of a retreaded tyre is generally 30 per cent to 50 per cent less than the cost of a new tyre;

* Retreading a tyre saves up to 15 gallons of oil; and,

* Truck and commercial tyres can often be retreaded up to three times or more, depending on the condition of the tyre casing.

Retreaded commercial tyres, including trucks and bus tyres, are manufactured according to rigorous industry recommended practices, and can be driven at the same legal speeds as comparable new tyres, with no loss in performance or comfort.