Truck Tyres
South China Tire, producer of Sunny and Wanli branded tyres, is to expand capacity to around 15 million tyres a year with a new plant. The first phase of the new plant began production in September 2006, and offers additional production of two million tyres (the total capacity is six million tyres). The total project will take up till 2012 to complete, with a final annual capacity of around 15 million tyres.
Well-known Saudi Arabian tyre specialist General Retread has entered into a partnership with Bandag to launch precure tyre retreading in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is a virgin market for Bandag.
The new Tyre Lift from Penny Hydraulics is a versatile platform lift for handling tyres, wheels and loads up to 250kg between ground level and a first floor or mezzanine store. Penny Hydraulics says it offers a cost-effective solution for complying with manual handling regulations and reduces the risk of injury. The entire handling process can be carried out by a single person, with no manual lifting involved.
Comparison tests between the latest Goodyear Regional RHSII truck steer tyre and an unnamed competitor show that Goodyear’s Regional RHSII has superior performance in the areas of wet braking, rolling resistance and noise. TÜV Süd carried out the tests to provide an independent report on the comparative performance of the new tyre, its predecessor and its main competitor in the European market. The test centre was guarded about the identity of the competitor, with the official copy of the report that Tyres & Accessories has seen describing the product as a: “high-quality tyre of a well-established European manufacturer.”
Five years after the debut of its original eTire Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), Michelin has begun to show off its eTire II second-generation sensor equipment. This new eTire system incorporates technology devised by UK company Transense Technologies, who granted Honeywell a licence to develop their TPMS design on behalf of the French tyre maker.
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear’s North American tyre operations have made a number of personnel changes. The moves, said Goodyear, were made with “an emphasis on promoting our primary consumer tyre brands and further evolving our market-driven focus.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Truck fleets and independent truckers can now receive a free copy of the Tire Retread Information Bureau’s “Don’t Thump ‘Em, Pump ‘Em” poster.
The poster promotes the use of tire gauges as a way to keep truck tyres properly maintained. The 17.5×23-inch poster is printed in full colour on heavy paper and is suitable for framing, TRIB said.
Hankook Tire Co., Ltd have released details of a safety related defect present in certain Aurora brand medium duty truck tyres. The affected tyres were manufactured between March 1 and September 5, 2006 at Hankook’s factory in Jiangsu, China, and the company has issued a recall of the 7,890 affected tyres.
Hankook reports that the tyres in question meet official standards but did not completely meet the company’s own endurance criteria. Therefore it was judged that the tyre may become prematurely unserviceable if exposed to extreme conditions of use or abuse.
Recalled tyres will be replaced free of charge until June 30, 2007, at which date a partial credit dependant on remaining tread depth will be given. Further details of the recall can be found on Hankook’s Aurora brand website www.auroratireusa.com.
Only a day after reports slamming the endemic practice of re-selling worn out tyres in South Africa comes news of a potential remedy to this life threatening state of affairs.
Last year, IMI the maker of truck balancing powder, Equal, launched a product aimed at the passenger car market. XactBalance, distributed in the UK by Rema-Tip Top, is a new style of dynamic balancing weight and is aimed at premium level fitments.
The last year saw the gap between the premium and budget CV tyre markets widen as cost conscious fleet managers have opted for lower priced imported tyres. Continental, as a manufacturer just outside the top three in terms of UK commercial vehicle replacement tyre market share, must be examining the market very closely – something that made executives’ recent market research presentation all the more interesting. UK commercial vehicle brand manager, Jill Rodgers, and truck and remould brand manager, Mike Nyren presented the data.
After several attempts they have now finally succeeded: Bandag Corporation heir, Martin Carver, has sold his and his mother’s majority stake in the company to Japanese tyre giant Bridgestone. It was probably high time for the American retreading specialist to make such a move, as in recent years they have been operating in a seemingly unfavourable environment. If Bridgestone had also chosen to go down the same path as Goodyear and Michelin, establishing its own equity retreading businesses, Bandag’s market environment could have been set to become even more unfavourable.
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After several attempts they have now finally succeeded: Bandag Corporation heir, Martin Carver, has sold his and his mother’s majority stake in the company to Japanese tyre giant Bridgestone. It was probably high time for the American retreading specialist to make such a move, as in recent years they have been operating in a seemingly unfavourable environment. If Bridgestone had also chosen to go down the same path as Goodyear and Michelin, establishing its own equity retreading businesses, Bandag’s market environment could have been set to become even more unfavourable.
Subscribers can read the entire article and download it as a PDF by clicking the more link.
Spanish driver Antonio Albacete has taken out the FIA European Truck Racing Championship for 2006 in his Goodyear fitted Cepasa team MAN. Albacete finished second place at Le Mans, the final race of the season, securing himself a championship winning 346 points from the season’s eight qualifying races.
A report in the regional newspaper Express & Star revealed that thieves broke into the Lodge Tyres depot in Pleck Road, Walsall at the weekend and stole more than 200 tyres, valued at £50,000. According to joint manager Phil Williams, thieves made off with 129 truck tyres and 92 van tyres. The thieves disabled the depot’s alarm and forced open roller shutter doors before loading the tyres on to a lorry and driving off. Not surprisingly, Lodge Tyres’ business was badly affected by the loss of stock.
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