Goodyear announces 19.5” tyre with 10t axle weight for lightweight mega trailers

Local truck fleets must reckon with the HGV road user levy, and similar toll schemes are in place throughout Europe. In some countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, the rate levied depends on the number of axles a vehicle uses. Fleets whose routes take them to or through these regions are increasingly turning to solutions that enable them to run with two-axle trailers. Goodyear has now released a new tyre to meet this demand.

In conjunction with lightweight trailer manufacturer Berger Fahrzeugtechnik, Goodyear has developed the Goodyear Fuelmax T 435/50R19.5 HL 164K. With a ten-tonne axle capacity and low rolling radius, the tyre provides tandem axle mega trailers with a greater weight capacity plus the advantage of reduced road tax.

The Fuelmax T is the first premium truck tyre available in this particular size and load index, and Berger will be the first OEM to receive the tyre. Its BERGERecotrail tandem lightweight mega trailer weighs only 4.7 tonnes, and paired with the Goodyear tyre it can take a payload of up to 25 tonnes.

“For many operators of mega trailers, volume is more important than maximum weight and, where appropriate, the lower tax on four-axle combinations plus their lower fuel and maintenance costs are very attractive. However, with nine-tonne axles, weight capacity was an issue in many cases,” says Armin Lechner – head of product management at Berger Fahrzeugtechnik GesmbH. “The solution was to increase to ten tonnes axle weight and for this we needed tyres with a 164 5,000 kg load index. The Fuelmax T High Load tyre that Goodyear has produced gives us a premium product that delivers exactly what our customers require.”

Goodyear first introduced a ten-tonne trailer tyre at the 2010 IAA Commercial Vehicle Show. “This was specifically to maximise the load capacity of tandem axle trailers,” shares Benjamin Willot, marketing director Commercial EMEA, for Goodyear Dunlop. He adds: “This was a 22.5-inch tyre so it was not suitable for mega trailers, which use 19.5-inch rims. Working with Berger we have developed the new premium tyre for lightweight tandem axle mega trailers so that operators can take advantage of the benefits of the lighter trailers as well as the lower road taxation in some countries.”

Highlighting the difference in the abovementioned four/five axle toll levy, Goodyear says that compared with a typical five-axle 40-tonne combination using a 27-tonne tri-axle bogie, a fleet operating a four-axle 38-tonne combination featuring a BERGERecotrail trailer with a 20-tonne tandem bogie can save 2,160 euros per year in German road tax costs alone (based on approximately 75,000 miles a year on German toll roads).