Bridgestone offers complete package to meet commercial fleets’ economic, sustainability goals

With commercial fleet customers facing unenviable cost pressures, Bridgestone has sought to demonstrate why its lowest total cost of ownership philosophy makes financial sense for fleets. The tyre supplier offers a complete package of fleet commercial support to promote maximum efficiency, convenience and sustainability, beginning with its premium truck tyres.

Students at Coventry University showed that up to 40,000 metric tonnes of CO2 could be saved across the UK’s haulage sector per year if every long haul HGV ran on Bridgestone’s Ecopia H002 tyres, equating to between £2,200 and £3,200 in fuel per HGV (between 1,100 litres and 1,600 litres). The same equation was applied to all regional HGVs running on the Duravis range, where up to 3 million metric tonnes of CO2 would be saved per year, with a fuel saving per-regional truck of between £1,300 and £1,900 (between 650 litres and 950 litres).

Bridgestone weds its tyre performance to its Bandag retreading processes and Webfleet digital systems, which offer datacentric fleet insights, to deliver greater efficiencies and productivity gains achieved by running its fleet policies. Bridgestone believes together this adds up to a strong sustainability as well as economic proposition.

Commercial tyre range

(Photo: Bridgestone)

The Ecopia H002 is Bridgestone’s flagship tyre for trucks, which integrates the company’s most cutting edge low rolling resistance technology to make vehicles more fuel efficient, reducing vehicles’ fuel bills and environmental impact. It achieves best in class fuel efficiency, as well as outstanding wet-weather performance and year-round convenience, through an EU label A-A-A grade combination in steer, drive and trailer positions.

The ultra-durable Duravis R002 is also designed to help lower operational costs thanks to outstanding wear performance and optimised fuel efficiency. The R002 is ideally suited to all types of on-road fleet operation, with outstanding wet grip another compelling factor. While many operators associate a vehicle’s efficiency with its engine, it’s easy to forget that around 35 per cent of fuel efficiency is associated with the tyres it is operating on, which is particularly relevant when thinking of the Duravis R002. It provides optimised fuel efficiency, with a B-C-B combination in steer, drive and trailer and is a multipurpose tyre for all types of on-road fleet vehicles operating in a wide range of applications.

Bridgestone’s second line Firestone truck tyres are also available in a new on-road regional range engineered to reduce cost of ownership and reduce fleets’ environmental footprint in the mid-range segment. Firestone’s tyre lineup is also built with Bridgestone’s Enliten technology, which provides improved fuel efficiency through an up to 15 per cent reduction in rolling resistance across the three positions, and is available in an expanded range of sizes.

Bridgestone’s Bandag retreading operation has also been upgraded, with expanded manufacturing processes leading to more hot-cure products being produced than ever before. Under the new Bandag Hotread name, Bridgestone says its retread solutions “will become some of the most advanced in the UK,” featuring 17 new products being manufactured from its Bourne-based Bulldog plant. Eight of these products are now on the market, mirroring Bridgestone’s flagship product range, with the rest of the Bandag Hotread portfolio to be introduced over the course of the year.

The multi-million pound investment also boosts significant environmental and sustainability benefits; a typical retread tyre uses 70 per cent less oil in its production compared to a new product, along with 80 per cent lower CO2 emissions in the manufacturing process. 25,000 UK buses operate on retreads – along with 70 per cent of all supermarket delivery vehicles.

Bridgestone’s new Bandag Hotread line of retreads are a key part of its full-service fleet mobility sustainability package (Photo: Bridgestone)

Fleetcare integrated tyre, fleet management

Bridgestone now offers Fleetcare, its integrated tyre and fleet management solution that combines Bridgestone’s premium tyres and tyre management solutions with Webfleet. The company wants to maximise customer satisfaction, time saving, regulatory compliance, and increased sustainability, safety and security in a user-friendly package. Fleetcare’s business benefits are delivered through IoT and data driven insights and services, promising a comprehensive and modular solution package that adds cost control and automation.