Goodyear Dunlop introduces COC retreading

Truck tyre retreading is an important means by which transport companies can reduce costs per mile. Goodyear Dunlop operates three mould cure retreading facilities in Europe – in Lyon, France, Wolverhampton, UK and the 2011-opened Wittlich plant in Germany – and has built up its mould cure retread portfolio. The company has now extended its range of services; in addition to acquiring and exchanging casings, as of September 2013 it will mould cure retread customer own casings.

The manufacturer of the Goodyear, Dunlop, Fulda and Sava truck tyre brands says adhering to a multiple life concept that includes regrooving, retreading and then a second regrooving can extend tyre life one and a half times at 80 per cent the cost of a new tyre. For fleet operators, this means reduced costs per mile and increased operating efficiency.

The advantage of utilising customer own casing, or COC retreading, is that as the casing in a used Goodyear Dunlop truck tyre is returned to its original owner as a mould cure retread – the fleet operator only pays for the retreading process. Furthermore, many transport companies prefer this option as it means they know the entire “life history” of their tyres.

With COC, the customer’s casing is electronically documented and recorded in Goodyear Dunlop’s retreading system. Casing collection then takes place automatically and the casing will be retreaded according to instructions. Following quality control, the retreaded tyre is returned to the customer. In addition to providing peace of mind about the casing’s condition, the chief advantage COC offers customers is the ability to better plan retreading programmes and through this increase cost efficiency.

A number of tyre models are suitable for COC. The latest generation Goodyear and Dunlop casings can be retreaded as TreadMax or MultiTread mould cure retreads. Therefore the same materials as used in the new tyre can be applied, giving the retread almost identical qualities as the corresponding new tyre. Prior generation Goodyear and Dunlop casings and Fulda and Sava casings are offered as mould cure NextTread retreads.

Sharing further information on the benefits retreading delivers, Goodyear Dunlop cites figures from TRIB and from its own 2011 study that show, in comparison to the manufacture of a new truck tyre, retreading a tyre requires two thirds less oil and produces 34 per cent less greenhouse gases. Furthermore, retreading involves fewer materials and reduces the amount of end of life tyres requiring disposal.