In 1971 J. Standard Baker Quoted " Drivers Towing Trailers  Are Four (4) Times As Unsafe As Those In Cars Alone! 

JOHN F. FLOYD: How could Goodyear award its CEO a bonus?

By John F. Floyd / Special to The Times
Posted Aug 30, 2018 at 10:05 AM Updated Aug 30, 2018 at 10:05 AM

How can a company pay a bonus to a chief executive officer who was instrumental in reducing the company’s operating earnings by 23.3 percent from 2016 to 2017? It is simple — just be the CEO of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

Richard Kramer, CEO of Goodyear, received total compensation for 2017 of $5,548,676, which included a bonus and incentive plan compensation of $1,305,598. Kramer also had an accumulated pension benefit of $20,668,947 and a deferred compensation balance of $171,596. Not bad for someone who had a lackluster year in terms of positive financial performance. At least he stopped the hemorrhaging of sales, which had been dropping by $1 billion dollars a year for the previous five years.

Goodyear has digressed in North American sales to the point of occupying the No. 3 position in terms of tire sales dollars; it held the No. 1 position a few years back. The company, and rightfully so, concentrated on product value rather than total tire sales.

In terms of North American tire sales, Goodyear is far behind Bridgestone Corporation of Japan and French-owned Michelin Tire. Bridgestone became No. 1 in sales after purchasing Firestone Rubber Company and Michelin No. 2 after purchasing Uniroyal Tire and Rubber Company. In addition, Continental A.G. of Germany and Pirelli & C.S.p.A of Italy have strengthened their sales volumes to rank fourth and fifth, respectively.

As far as Kramer’s executive compensation is concerned, I am not criticizing his bonus, just the methodology used to determine a value. With Goodyear earnings basically performing to an unacceptable level, the compensation committee had to reach deep into Kramer’s goals and objectives to award him a bonus at all.

To Kramer’s credit, the company did form a new joint venture with Bridgestone, TireHub L.L.C., to distribute Goodyear, Bridgestone and subsidiary tires in the United States. But that is the only positive to be found in all the Goodyear data coming from the financials. The compensation committees have access to all this data and more. There seems to be a lack of awareness by the company boards concerning a compensation committee method used to determine a CEO’s bonus.

All factors concerning the company are the responsibility of the CEO, and negative circumstances should be considered. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has started an investigation of Goodyear’s responsibility for several deaths and injuries in car crashes. Lawsuits and safety advocates allege the tires in question were designed for delivery trucks and not for recreational vehicles that travel at highway speeds. They say Goodyear kept the tire problem secret for years by settling cases and getting judges to seal records.

A judge recently wrote that Goodyear’s need to keep information confidential “does not come close” to outweighing the public’s need for access. Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said, ”... The real problem here is that Goodyear was using secret settlements for two decades to hide information about these dangerous tires from the government and the public.” That is a damning statement.

In Germany, executives of Volkswagen Group were sentenced to several years in prison for tampering with emission controls to defeat tests designed to monitor emissions output. Martin Winterkorn, ex-CEO of Volkswagen, was convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges in the U.S. In addition, the scandal led to the arrest on June 18 of Audi Motor Works CEO Rupert Stadler. Volkswagen has committed $18 billion dollars to rectify the emissions issue, recalling all vehicles involved.

If Goodyear was in fact lawfully hiding these records and people subsequently were killed, the ramifications go beyond the Volkswagen emissions scandal because lives were involved. Despite the allegations, Goodyear has yet to recall the G159 tires. Forty thousand of them were manufactured from 1996 to 2003.

I would think the possibility of substantial lawsuits and possible criminal liability would weigh heavy on decisions concerning bonuses for highly compensated individuals at Goodyear.

John F. Floyd is a Gadsden native who graduated from Gadsden High School in 1954. He formerly was director of United Kingdom manufacturing, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., vice president of manufacturing and international operations, General Tire & Rubber Co., and director of manufacturing, Chrysler Corp. He can be reached at johnfloyd538@gmail.com. The opinions reflected are his own.

Our Letter To The Paper:

Dear Editor The Gadsden Times:

I read with admiration a letter penned by John F. Floyd  which his knowledge of Goodyear and the most dangerous tire ever produced the G159 is stunning.

Our organization came to know about RV tire blowouts almost 10 years ago and when we noticed a trend when Pro-Golfer Ken Green lost his son, wife, dog and leg from a RV Tire blowout we became an outspoken leader.

Over the years we have provided over 5,000 hours of dedicated time to victims of the Goodyear Tire G159 and have seen first hand how this company has suppressed, paid off and non disclosed every single victims families not to reveal the truth to the general public and government.

Like John F. Floyd stated "The Real Problem here is that Goodyear was using secret settlements for two decades to hide information about these dangerous tires from the Government and the public"  This is a damning statement.

Our organization points out that TAKA air bags have caused about 20 deaths and this company could not escape Government Scrutiny and Public Safety Advocates however Goodyear has escaped all public exposure and what makes matters worse all the victims took the money.

Here is the facts that is simply stunning and the loss of preventable lives by victims who said "Show Me The Money" and let innocent victims die and suffer simply states volumes of how selfish and greedy America has become. 

The Truth...
"Court filings suggest the G159's failure rate is anywhere from 10 to 27 times worse than the Firestone tires deemed defective by NHTSA. (Goodyear employees themselves said in depositions that they can't identify “any” tire made by the company that comes close to the failure rate of the G159 described in court.)

May God forgive all who have forsaken our cause and the players up to this point who have tried to supress and destroy our cause to bring public scrutiny to RV tire blowouts.  Note: The Utility Trailer Industry and U Haul employs the same suppression of deaths business model.

Sincerely,


Ron J. Melancon

Supporting evidence

http://www.dangeroustrailers.org/fair-warning--very-soon-all-the-people--the-political-leaders--the-financial-insitutions-will-all-be-exposed--when-they-conspire-to-supress-hundreds-of-deaths-goodyear-tire-g159.html

http://www.dangeroustrailers.org/why-are-so-many-rv-tires-blowing-out---notice-in-all-of-these-most-recent-tire-blow-outs-not-a-single-reporter-ever-ask-s--what-brand-of-tire--why--.html

http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2018/jul/13/personality-ron-j-melancon/

Understand this...the Goodyear tire company has not only paid off 2 families who promised to help our cause.....they paid off hundreds.......of people and they all TOOK THE MONEY! Not a single family offered to help save lives. We spent over 5,000 hours and over 4 years helping the two families get settlements but they all took the money and NON-DISCLOSED! resulting in my family suffering financially and other innocent men, women and children getting killed....killed all over "Show Me The Money" mentality.....
A judge recently wrote that Goodyear’s need to keep information confidential “does not come close” to outweighing the public’s need for access. Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said, ”... The real problem here is that Goodyear was using secret settlements for two decades to hide information about these dangerous tires from the government and the public.” That is a damning statement.

http://www.gadsdentimes.com/news/20180830/john-f-floyd-how-could-goodyear-award-its-ceo-bonus

We Simply Ask.....How much does this high level executive knows about The G159 Tire?