Commercial Vehicle Tyres
Michelin North America will soon begin recalling around 1.3 million light commercial vehicle tyres. The tyre maker says the recall of certain Michelin LTX M/S fitments was decided upon as due to the increasing number of tread loss and/or rapid air loss incidents reports it has received. The recall is expected to begin on 6 January 2014.
Heading up to the first anniversary of the European tyre label’s implementation, Tyres & Accessories took the opportunity to ask about tyre manufacturers’ label experiences with commercial fleet operators. From Chris Evans, director of Pirelli’s UK and Ireland Truck business unit, we learned that fleet reactions to the label have been mixed. “It’s a good tool to help end users collect essential information when choosing new tyres,” he relates. “But fleets recognise the tyre label cannot substitute the wide range of information offered by the manufacturers and service providers which detail many of the other facets of a truck tyre, such as mileage and retreadability. Often a fleet will prefer to test in real time, usually back-to-back with competitor or traditional products to see true performances in their own environment.”
Michelin has won a tyre supply deal for the Teesport based Containerships fleet. With 60 6×2 mid-lifts, fleet engineer Gordon Aitchison says the results of a recent 1,000km trial have helped to identify significant annual cost differences of more than 20 per cent between four different 295/80R22.5 premium brand tyres.
While UK car output provided good news for the industry, commercial vehicles remained in steep decline, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures show. CV output dropped 27.5 per cent in September to 6,963 units, meaning 67,609 CVs have been produced in 2013 to date, down 17.9 per cent from 2012.
It’s as old as the pneumatic tyre itself – this year, Continental Tire the Americas’ Aldora Mills tyre cord plant in Barnesville, Georgia celebrates 125 years in operation. The facility began life as a cotton mill in 1888 and began producing tyre cord around 1920. Today the 82,500 square metre plant produces around 16 thousand tonnes of tyre cord fabric a year for use in the manufacture of passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres.
GT Radial has entered the growing multi-usage sector with the launch of the GSR225 Combi Road steer axle tyre. The tyre is initially available in size 295/80R22.5.
Sri Lanka is one of Apollo Tyres’ fastest growing export markets – the company says sales there have increased more than 50 per cent year-on-year since the brand’s introduction into Sri Lanka in June 2011. The Indian tyre maker has now opened its first branded retail outlet within the country.
Michelin believes that its latest commercial vehicle tyre – the X Multi D – will be at the forefront of changes in the 17.5” drive axle commercial vehicle tyre segment. The tyre, aimed at medium weight trucks and midi-coaches is designed to provide improved safety, fuel-efficiency, noise and longevity characteristics when compared with the XDE2 tyres they replace.
Marangoni Commercial & Industrial Tyres has announced the development of a new programme within its Marix range of retreaded truck tyres. The retread product manufacturer says the Energeco brand has the objective of improving the performance of rolling resistance, which the company identifies as a decisive factor in the decision-making process for professional users and fleets operating over long distances. It will also become more prominent when EU tyre labelling’s second phase encompasses retread truck tyre products, the manufacturer says.
New light commercial vehicle figures released today show overall sales were up 12.4 per cent in September and up 8.1 per cent year-to-date. Van sales increased by 10.3 per cent last month, whilst truck demand rose by 29.7 per cent.
Continental will pursue the principle of making commercial vehicle tyres go further for customers with its synergetic TBR retreading facility named the ContiLifeCycle Plant. Announced in 2012 and due to open in Hannover-Stöcken later in 2013, the 10 million euro-plus plant is set to become the world’s first plant to integrate rubber recycling with hot and cold retreading, and will create more than 100 new jobs at Conti’s headquarters. Tyrepress got in touch with Christian Saas, Conti’s director Retread Business Commercial Vehicle Tires, to get the latest information on the plant prior to it coming on line.
Around €40 million will be invested in Continental’s Korbach factory in Germany by 2018, the tyre maker reported on 30 September. The company’s Tire Division will use these funds to establish a specialist production line for 19 to 22-inch passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres to meet growing international demand from both the original […]
Bridgestone claims it “pushes back the boundaries of performance and tyre life” with it latest trailer axle truck tyre, the R168Plus, and states the tyre offers vastly superior tear resistance, lower rolling resistance and longer tyre life.” The R168Plus will be available in size 385/65R22.5 as of 1 October and is aimed at both the original equipment and replacement markets.
A point of difference between the introduction of Goodyear’s new Kmax and Fuelmax truck tyre lines and that of previous generation tyres is that retreaded versions of the Kmax and Fuelmax will be available from day one. “In the past we made a clear division,” notes Rupert Kohaupt, Goodyear Dunlop’s commercial vehicle tyre sales director for emerging markets. “We introduced a new product and took the approach that the demand for retread versions of the range would first come when the tyres were worn. We would wait a year or 18 months before introducing the retread version into the market.”
When viewing current regulatory and competitive trends, few fleet operators harbour the illusion that life will get easier in future. Fleet operators in the UK and Western Europe must contend with rising costs and ever-stricter regulations, along with increasing competition from markets further east and a need to maximise payloads. Generally speaking, any measure that offers a cost-saving advantage is now being taken very seriously, including when it comes to tyres. But while this drive towards cost effectiveness is occurring industry-wide, fleet priorities differ depending on the routes driven and the cargoes hauled. While some consider total mileage of utmost importance, others place fuel efficiency at the top of their list.
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