Yokohama has launched a new online tool — the Inflation Pressure Calculator — to help fleet owners effectively manage the costs of tires through proper tire maintenance. See release below for details, or stop by Yokohama’s booth (14124) at the Mid-America Trucking Show, Mar. 22-24, in Louisville, Kentucky to learn more. Here’s a screenshot of the new tool.
FULLERTON, CA (March 19, ...
Read more →One of the things we love to do for visitors to our web site is to arrange tours of retread plants. The Retread Tire Association recently had the pleasure of arranging a visit for John Birkett and his family with one of our members, Premier Bandag in Princeton, Indiana. Here’s what Mr. Birkett had to say afterward.
Thank you very much for putting us in touch with Mr. Elliott. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and tour yesterday. Mr. Elliott ...
Read more →Our friend Steve Sturgess says a New Mexico-based trucking fleet has been getting remarkable service out of its retreaded tires and fuel economy by paying attention to aerodynamics and tire care, including a technology called Tire Lyna. Steve’s report:
Mesilla Valley Transportation, or MVT as they call it, is a stand-out fleet, one of the largest in New Mexico and West Texas. It’s just a stone’s throw from historic Old Mesilla, a particularly noteworthy monument to the pioneering west.
MVT itself is ...
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We live near the beach in Pacific Grove, California. Monterey and Monterey Bay are our neighbors. This past Sunday morning I took our young Greyhound, Gertie, to the beach for a run. She had never been in the water and did not show any interest in going in until she spotted another dog chasing a stick into the ocean.
Like a lightning bolt, ...
Read more →From Heavy Duty Trucking magazine – The next time you’re driving alongside a truck at highway speed, have a look at the wheels. They should be running straight and true without any wobble or vibration. Lamentably, you probably won’t have to look terribly hard to see wheels shaking so badly you’ll wonder how they stay on the truck. This type of problem isn’t always obvious in the shop with the wheel sitting still, but it is painfully obvious with the wheel turning 500 ...
Read more →I spent three exciting days in Canada last week visiting three of our members’ retread plants and speaking at the Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (OSSGA) meeting in Mississauga, Ontario. I visited the Goodyear OTR retread plant in North Bay, the Ironhead Rubber Technologies truck tire retread plant in Brampton, and the Anderson Tire truck tire retread plant in Hamilton.
It’s too bad that the naysayers about retreading couldn’t be with me because each of these plants were modern, clean ...
Read more →By Harvey Brodsky
If you are a sports fan and read the sports pages you are familiar with seeing the word “retread” nearly every day. The same holds true if you read the entertainment section of your newspaper. Unfortunately, the word “retread” has taken on a pejorative meaning.
But there are retreads and then there are retreads.
The other kinds of retreads are far from being pejorative and in fact, they are making a valuable contribution to our environment.
We’re talking about retreaded tires. ...
Read more →By Asa Sharp, Tire Review
Modern radial truck tires have come a long way. Long-term casing durability is nearly taken for granted today, assuring multiple retreads for most line haul applications.
More recently, wear issues (irregular wear on free-rolling axle positions) have been reduced to the point that technicians often suspect mechanical issues rather than simply reporting “tire problems” as a first response. Tread compounds have evolved to deliver higher levels of fuel efficiency, all-weather performance and resistance ...
Read more →By Asa Sharp, Tire Review
The life-cycle cost approach to tire management isn’t new to commercial trucking fleets. Manufacturers have been preaching this for years as a way to quantify the benefits of purchasing premium tires – with premium casings – as justification for the higher initial expense of top quality tires.
Mostly, this scenario is built around retreading as a way to postpone the purchase of expensive new tires and has worked effectively for nearly all fleets. There are more ...
Read more →If you’re not in the routine of always using a high-quality inflation cage when airing up wheel-and-tire assemblies, this dramatic stop-motion footage captured by Branick Industries will be eye-opening (and maybe eye-saving).
According to Bridgestone, your everyday 11R22.5 radial truck tire inflated to 100 psi represents nearly 72,000 foot-pounds of constrained force. That’s enough to hurl an 180-pound bystander nearly 200 feet.
“Today’s wheels are much safer, but it’s still extremely dangerous work,” Kevin Rohlwing, senior vicepresident of ...
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