Our Story
Our StoryIn 2000, Shur-Tite Products was founded with a single mission: create a delineator utilizing recycled tire rubber that would stand up straight, be replaced easily to limit the exposure to traffic of road maintenance crews and increase labor savings for the Texas Department of Transportation.
Our founder, Ron Riker, developed an idea to design a recycled delineator post to meet the challenge put forth by the Texas State Legislature’s need to use up growing stockpiles of old tires that were rotting in fields across the state. He began working with multiple manufacturers in the plastic industry to formulate a unique blend that would incorporate recycled tire rubber into a thermoplastic extruded pipe which could then be used as a delineator post while withstanding the rigors of the modern highway system.
Ron invented and patented the Shur-Tite® socket and wedge system as a foundation to hold the newly designed recycled delineator post allowing it to be replaced in less than a minute with a goal of keeping maintenance personnel’s exposure to traffic at a minimum. In 2002, the system was approved by TXDOT and within a few years several hundred thousand were sold and installed across the state resulting in the repurposing 400,000 lbs. of recycled tire crumb rubber and 2,500,000 lbs. of recycled thermoplastic. Based on this success, Mr. Riker was then able to develop a mailbox support system along with a breakaway sign support for use in the same socket system utilized with the delineators. This enabled maintenance crews to support multiple systems on Texas Highways utilizing a single footing and increasing the efficiency and safety for all involved.
In 2006, Ron sold his ownership in the company to its current partners but continued to be passionate about developing new product ideas and working full time to open new sales territories until his retirement in 2014. Under the leadership of current President Darrell Heald, Shur-Tite Products continues Mr. Riker’s mission to create innovative products designed for safety and labor savings while providing the service our customers have come to expect. Mr. Heald continues to remind the employees of Ron’s saying, “We are a service company that just happens to have great products, we must earn the trust of our customers through the quality of our products and our willingness to serve each day.”