Spangler Trucking Company
Memorandum
TO: Michael Spangler, CEO of Spangler Trucking Co.
FROM: Lauren Calvert
SUBJECT: Goodyear Tire Accidents and Recall
DATE: 2/25/2014
This report is to inform and update you on the developments of the four accidents during the week of June 10 th
. I am also passing along a recommendation made by our consultant engineer that confirmed the cause of each accident.
Accident 1-Injury
Jose Banuelos had his eighteen wheeler’s tires replaced on Friday, June 7 th
, 2013 at our Dallas
Maintenance Yard. They were replaced with the recalled Goodyear tires. These tires were purchased June 1, 2013 at Andy’s Tire Shop. On Monday, June 10 th
of 2013, the accident involving Jose Banuelos, Dispatch Code 2315 occurred. Jose Banuelos was due to arrive in Fort
Worth on June 11 th
with a shipment of 1,000 pounds of refrigerated USDA Grade A Beef to
Walmart off Throckmorton St. We contracted an engineer to help determine the cause of each of these incidents. Engineer expert, John Dangerfield, determined the tires that were recalled were faulty. Jose was driving down I-35N when his tire blew out. He ended up in the ditch and suffered a minor concussion and a broken leg. Jose was admitted into George P Hermann
Hospital, and we were able to claim his injuries under our insurance, USAA claim number
230244.
Accident 2- Collateral Vehicular Damage
Kathy Onasses had her eighteen wheeler’s tires replaced on Wednesday, June 5 th
, 2013 at our
Dallas Maintenance Yard. They were replaced with the recalled Goodyear tires. These tires were purchased June 1, 2013 at Andy’s Tire Shop. On Tuesday, June 12 th
of 2013, our employee
Kathy Onasses, Dispatch Code 2320 was heading South on I-45 to Cavenders of Houston from our headquarters in Dallas. Her tire blew out at the Love’s gas station located at mile marker
220. As a result, she ran into a parked car. The parked car was owned by Anna Petrovich and was a 1990 Ford Focus. There were no personal injuries. The grill of Kathy’s eighteen wheeler was damaged minimally and the parked car’s trunk was crunched in. Kathy’s truck sustained
$1,000 in damages, and the parked car sustained $2,500 in damages. Both damages were covered by our USAA policy. We were able to dispatch another driver from the area, Todd Smith, Truck
Code 2400 to pick up the shipment of Levi Jeans. Todd Smith was able to arrive in Houston on the delivery date of June 13 th
with the Levi Jeans unharmed. We gave Kathy Onasses two days of paid leave. We contracted an engineer to help determine the cause of each of these incidents.

Engineer expert, John Dangerfield, determined the tires that were recalled were faulty. We were able to claim all costs under our insurance, USAA claim number 230244.
Accident 3
Rad Hasheem had his eighteen wheeler’s tires replaced on Wednesday, June 5 th
, 2013 at our
Dallas Maintenance Yard. They were replaced with the recalled Goodyear tires. These tires were purchased June 1, 2013 at Andy’s Tire Shop. On Thursday, June 14 th
of 2013, our employee Rad
Hasheem, Dispatch Code 2301 was carrying a shipment of 1,000 pounds of mangoes to Lubbock
Market Street located off of 19 th street from our Abilene distributor. Rad’s tire blew out on 84 north mile marker 842. His shipment of mangoes were compromised due to bruising resulting in
$76,000 loss in product and his truck had $10,000 damaged. We were able to deliver the products to Market Street a day late, in which we paid Market Street the contracted late fee of
$50,000. We contracted an engineer to help determine the cause of each of these incidents.
Engineer expert, John Dangerfield, determined the tires that were recalled were faulty. The head of marketing, Mike Madonna, has spoken and explained the situation to Market Street and relations with them are unaffected. We have continued delivering to them at our normal rate since the date of the accident. We were able to claim all costs under our insurance, USAA claim number 230244.
Accident 4
Ryan Chan had his eighteen wheeler’s tires replaced on Wednesday, June 5 th
, 2013 at our Dallas
Maintenance Yard. They were replaced with the recalled Goodyear tires. These tires were purchased June 1, 2013 at Andy’s Tire Shop. On Thursday, June 14 th
of 2013, our employee
Ryan Chan, Dispatch Code 2330 was carrying a shipment of 2,500 shirts for Hollister Co. from a Corpus Christi distribution site to San Antonio’s Baybrook Mall. The front two truck tires blew out leading to a spin out at mile marker 333 on I-30. Ryan Chan had enough spares to change out the tires and arrive at his destination by the designated date. He showed great dedication to the company by continuing his route despite the circumstances. We contracted an engineer to help determine the cause of each of these incidents. Engineer expert, John Dangerfield, determined the tires that were recalled were faulty. We were able to claim all costs under our insurance,
USAA claim number 230244.
Aftermath
The Recall
Goodyear recalled all tires produced during the month of May 2013 at their factory in Dallas,
Texas (Factory Number 2909) on June 18 th
of 2013. It was recall number 90009. Goodyear said
Batch 290 from this factory was created with a smaller percentage of rubber make-up than safe.
The unsafe rubber make-up was made worse by extreme temperatures. Goodyear claimed that this was an isolated incident that they would like to take full responsibility for. We were able to claim all costs under our insurance, USAA claim number 230244.
Picture of correct tire composition. Picture of faulty tire composition (showing holes where rubber should be).

Customer Relations
Since the week of June 10 th
, we have remained contracting and transporting at the same levels.
We have not seen a decrease in customers since the accidents. We sent out a letter to each company involved in the accidents, Walmart of Throckmorton Street, Cavenders of Houston
Telephone Road, Market Street of Lubbock’s 19 th
street, and Hollister of San Antonio’s
Baybrook Mall. We informed all the companies of the mishap, and still delivered on time to all the companies except Market Street of Lubbock caused by Accident 3. The companies were so pleased with our honest and up-front policy that they told their friends and we have actually gained customers. Our marketing manager, Mike Madonna, has been in constant contact with
Market Street since the accident. Mike explained the recall to Market Street and was able to keep their support. We paid Market Street their late fee and delivered brand new, fresh mangoes to them a day later. We also sent them a formal letter of apology for any inconvenience caused.
Market Street was very pleased with the way the company handled the situation and has been recommending us to companies all around Lubbock.
Public Relations
There was a news story on Goodyear and the effects of their recall, but for privacy reasons, news stations were not able to discuss specific companies affected by faulty tires. We have received little publicity from this incident. Goodyear’s increased publicity will also discourage any negative thoughts about our company from the resulting accidents.
Insurance Relationship
At first our insurance separated all the accidents and were not open to the idea of the tire company being at fault. Accident One was USAA claim number 230225, Accident Two was
USAA claim number 230228, Accident Three was USAA claim number 230230, Accident Four was USAA claim number 230235. Once the recall of Goodyear’s tires on June 18 th
of 2013,
USAA (our insurance company) decided to pick up all our expenses including the expenses incurred to prevent a lost business. USAA combined the individual accidents’ claim numbers into one claim number 230244. They have reimbursed all our expenses including the penalty fee from Market Street.
Lawsuit
The insurance firm is pressing charges on Goodyear in order to pay for our reimbursements.
USAA has told us that our insurance policy will not increase in price as long as they win their lawsuit against Goodyear. The lawyers for USAA have claimed to have a 99% chance of winning their case. If they lose, and we have to pay for an increase it will only be an increase of
10%, in other words, $15,000.
Recommendations for the future

The engineer consultant recommended buying tires from the same batch and then testing one tire to see if the composition of the tire was safe before putting the tires on our trucks. None of the other trucking companies use this strategy, but I think it will be beneficial for us and can serve as an attribute that sets us apart from other companies.
Conclusion
The insurance company paid for all of our expenses, losses in revenue and miscellaneous costs.
The insurance company is carrying out a lawsuit in our name. There was minimal damage to trucks and people. We were able to get all trucks fixed and running by the beginning of the next week, so business was for the most part uninterrupted. The injured man, Jose, is already back to work. All our employees involved in accidents are back to work. If you have any further questions or considerations contact me at (832) 276-4521 or lauren.j.calvert@gmail.com.