Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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EQUIPMENT: RETREADS BACK FROM THE DEAD DAED EHT MORF KCAB DAED EHT MORF KCAB DAED EHT MORF KCAB DAED EHT MORF KCAB Tires have as many as five productive lives. Not taking advantage of that fact is leaving money on the shop floor. I BY JACK ROBERTS f there is a prevalent frustration in the commercial tire industry today, it���s that many ���eet owners and truck drivers remain suspicious of retreads. As a consequence, some ���eets lack a coherent used tire program ��� and they simply are throwing money away. One would be hard-pressed to ���nd a large Class 8 ���eet that does not have a comprehensive ��� and often highly detailed and data-driven ��� used tire and retread program. However, according to many tire makers, such programs remain underused among small and medium-sized ���eets. Bill Sweatman, president and chief executive of���cer of Marangoni Tread North America, says tires are the thirdhighest operating cost for commercial trucking ���eets behind wages and fuel. ���They are important assets that need to be managed,��� Sweatman says. ���Over the last few years, many things have changed that make retreading more important than ever. The quality of retreads today has never been better. Trucking ���eet maintenance managers recognize that the economic advantages of a well-managed tire program ��� including retreading To not maximize a fleet���s payback for their tire ��� is essential to obtaining the lowest operating cost.��� Up to 75 percent of the ���alligators��� ��� blown tire parts on highways ��� that people see actually are new tires or tires in their ���rst life, says Mark Totten, vice president of sales and marketing for Goodyear���s Wingfoot Truck Care Centers. Moreover, ���eets with basic used tire programs easily can save a minimum of 50 percent on three cycles of a tire���s four-cycle life. ���New tires today can be retread up to four times after their CONTITREAD, CONTINENTAL���S PREMIUM TREAD FOR COLD RETREADING, IS PRODUCED WITH PROPRIETARY MIXTURES AND PROFILES. investment by retreading is crazy. ��� Harvey Brodsky, managing director, Retread Tire Association COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL CCJ_0413_EquipFeature.indd 47 | ARPIL 2013 47 3/21/13 9:48 AM