On December 5, 2006, Bridgestone America and Bandag Inc. announced a merger. Bandag was a leading company in the tire re-treading business. Tire re-treading is the process of putting a new tread on a used tire. This will extend the life of the tire and save money. This process is mostly done on large truck tires. The name of new company has become "Bridgestone Bandag, LLC".