All tires sold in the U.S. contain a TIRE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER or TIN. This string of characters is on the tire sidewall and begins with the letters DOT. Tires are required by federal law to have a full TIN on one side and a partial TIN on the other.
In some cases, a partial TIN will be sufficient to identify whether a tire has been recalled. However, the full TIN offers the best chance to determine whether a tire in this database is subject to a recall.
The TIN pictured above is a full TIN that starts with DOT and ends with a four-digit number. One side of the tire will have a full TIN.
The TIN pictured above is a partial TIN that begins with DOT but does not end with a four-digit number like the full TIN. Only one side of the tire is permitted to have a partial TIN.