It’s Not Easy Being Single
I sometimes wonder how our industry ever managed the leap of faith it took to convert from gasoline to diesel engines or from tube-type to tubeless tires. Having lived through much of the latter example, I remember several key observations. The performance and cost-savings advantages of tubeless tires were obvious early on, especially to tire
Treadwear 101
There is much to consider when purchasing tires – including brands, tread designs and casing types. Casing types fall into two categories of performance: hard (Tier 1) and soft (Tier 2). Original treadlife and casing durability/retreadability are the basic Tier 1 values, while ride/handling, traction, stone holding, casing size (for retread interchangeability and dual matching)
Growth Opportunities Still Require Vigilance
Lately, there has been a lot of information about the influx of new equipment to the trucking industry. The combination of more stringent 2007 federal emissions requirements and a generally healthy freight volume have produced robust new vehicle orders for both power units and trailers. Certainly, some of these truck orders reflect a pre-buy to
Same But Different: Commercial Light Truck Tire Features Changing; Customer Concerns Steady
A decade ago, you could cover 80% or more of the commercial light truck tire market with six sizes, all of them 16 inches. “That is changing,” says John Soule, manager of Michelin brand light truck tires at Michelin North America (MNA). “We are now in the middle of a sizing transition that is bringing
Don’t Miss the Fine Points
The words “training” and “safety” should be closer in the dictionary, since training creates knowledge of new information, and information is the key to safety. This is especially true in a workplace where mechanical items, specialized tools, and a wide variety of equipment is routinely encountered. Trucks and their subsystems, including tires and wheels, provide
Price of Progress: Emerging Trends Heating Up Commercial Tire/Wheel Assemblies
All good tire people know that proper inflation is the lifeblood of tire durability. It’s often taken for granted that modern radials, when properly maintained, perform admirably in demanding high-speed, line-haul service. That hasn’t always been the case, however, as some of the more experienced (read: older) maintenance managers might recall. In the latter days
Two of a Kind: Mixing Sizes, Construction Leads to Trailer, Dually Disasters
Why do people seem to lose their ability to reason when selecting tires for trailers and dually trucks? Since tire manufacturers build a specific tire designated as ST – Special Trailer – it is reasonable to assume that they did so for a purpose. Maybe to keep the scene depicted below from happening? Take a
Anatomy of a Steer Tire and Ways to Improve Mileage
Steer tires typically receive a lot of attention from fleets and drivers. Certainly, these tires have a huge impact when it comes to driver comfort and road noise, but their weight-bearing abilities are more of a concern. These tires usually carry more load than any other tire on the vehicle. An individual drive or trailer
Stretching Those Tire Dollars
The best way for any fleet to keep operating costs down is to manage tires. After fuel, tires are a fleet’s largest expenditure. Yet so many fleets tend to under-budget and under-manage this cost center. In fact, many fleets still treat tire management as an entry-level position and appoint the newest, least-experienced technicians to handle
Many Alternatives to Tire Fuel Economy
As record-high fuel prices continue to impact the bottom lines of all types of trucking operations, fleet managers are taking a much closer look at all of the factors that contribute to fuel efficiency. One significant part of the miles per gallon equation is tires, and, as a sizable aspect of any fleet’s costs, maximizing
The Heat is On
Many factors combine to increase temperatures that tires must endure. Proper inflation is the lifeblood of tire durability. Modern radials perform admirably in demanding, high-speed, line-haul service when properly maintained. That wasn’t always the case. In the latter days of bias-ply truck tires and even during early generations of line-haul radials, excessive heat was touted
Leading the Way: Commercial Tire Market Keeps Step with Fleet Demands
“Today, more than ever, fleets are evaluating new technology with an eye to cost/benefit ratios.” That quote from Clif Armstrong, director of OE and marketing for Continental Tire North America’s (CTNA) commercial tire group, referred to truck fleet use of RFID technology, but he could have been talking about any other aspect of modern truck