Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/443069
I n the early 2000s, new advances in tire compounding and structural engineering led to a new tire design for the Class 8 market. While wide- based tires were a logical extension for tire OEMs, many fl eets and drivers initially viewed them with suspicion. The main concern was fl exibility: A truck with a fl at dual drive tire still could keep moving to either make a delivery or get to a repair facility. If a wide-based tire went down, the truck was stranded. Why would anyone spec a tire with such obvi- ous operational limitations? Paul Crehan, director of product mar- keting for Michelin Truck Tires, says wide- based singles offer a number of advantages over dual tires, notably in terms of both fuel and weight savings. "We do not believe there are any dis- advantages to running wide-based single tires," Crehan says. "Fleets will be in good company and join hundreds of fl eets and thousands of experienced truck drivers who are saving millions of gallons of fuel and eliminating hundreds of thousands of pressure checks and rotations by switching to a wide- based single." Crehan says reasons fl eets should convert to a 10-wheel vehicle confi guration include fuel savings, increased payload, driver satisfaction, minimized downtime, retreadability, con- sistent trade-in value, added productivity, meeting regulations and being "green." Not widely used yet But Matt Loos, director of truck and bus markets for Bridgestone-Firestone, cau- Wide-based single tires aren't a good fit for every fleet, but they shine in certain applications. Are they right for your operation? BY JACK ROBERTS Continental's HTL1 wide single truck tire is now available as a ContiTread retread. 36 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JANUARY 2015 Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions' Greatec M825 wide-based drive radial is designed to offer extended tire life and low cost per mile.