Incorporating retreads in your tire program is not only a smart business decision, it is an environmentally responsible one.

Eric Higgs

Challenged by high-scrub and short-haul environments, waste companies operate in some of the toughest conditions experienced by fleets. With frequent stops along residential and commercial routes each day, waste fleet tires often experience heat fatigue and faster wear. Punctures also can occur as these vehicles regularly drive through landfills.

All of these factors can result in the removal of tires from a waste vehicle every three to six months, which can be costly for fleets. This is why companies are working to help fleets understand the important role retreads play in a fleet’s overall tire management program. Retreading is a best practice that maximizes tire casing life and helps ensure fleets get the most out of their tire investment.

Tire performance starts with the casing itself. For waste fleets, this means a quality casing engineered for durability in high-scrub and short-haul environments to ensure retreadability potential. Many premium tires are engineered for longer wear performance and feature casing enhancements, like cooling fin technology and stone rejector platforms, to tackle challenging haul environments. When paired with a waste-specific retread, like one that features a scrub-resistant compound for long service life, waste fleets can realize the full potential of a tire casing.

Holistic Tire Solution from Start to Finish 

While fleets that retread today are one step ahead, they also may not be achieving maximum performance. On average, most waste fleets retread every six months and approximately two to three times per casing. This sounds like a good return on a tire investment, but many fleets do not realize that they are still leaving money on the table. Waste fleets can easily retread premium tire casings up to four times by properly caring for and maintaining their tires. By bringing greater efficiency into their tire maintenance program, fleets can significantly improve their overall profitability, yielding cost savings that can be invested back into their business.

The industry is moving toward a connected tire ecosystem, leveraging analytics and pairing insights with superior products and service to maximize tire performance. A premium tire casing will not achieve its maximum retread potential unless fleets maintain and track their tire assets over time.

Waste fleets should look for tire tracking and management systems that capture real-time inventory tracking and performance data to help proactively manage tire assets. The system should capture data on casing performance, integrity and the number of times each casing is retreaded. This provides actionable insights to refuse fleets so they can make informed decisions about their tires. Knowing the integrity of casings and how many times they have been retreaded helps ensure assets are being used to their full potential.

Trusted Dealer Partnerships

A trusted dealer partner can work with a fleet to design a custom tire and retread policy tailored to meet their needs. This partnership ensures that they meet their business goals and that the right tire and retread are selected for the job.

When looking to the future, it is also important to consider the environmental impact of a fleet’s tires and look for sustainable business solutions to positively impact society. Retreads are that answer. Premium retreads use less oil to manufacture than new tires, saving 225 million gallons of oil per year. They also reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduce tire waste by 1 billion pounds annually. Incorporating and maximizing retreads is not only a smart business decision, it is an environmentally responsible one.

Eric Higgs is the vice president of commercial marketing, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (Nashville, TN) and has been with the company since 2015. In his role, Higgs is responsible for leading the marketing strategy and branding efforts for the Commercial group which includes Bandag, the truck bus radial (TBR) and the off-the-road (OTR) tire businesses.

For more information, contact the Bandag team at (844) 74-TREAD or visit www.bandag.com/contactus.

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Maximizing Performance

Bandag retreads perform like comparable new tires* and are designed to work with premium tire casings, such as Bridgestone casings, to maximize performance potential. In December 2017, a large waste fleet in Chicago installed the Bandag BRM3 retread in the drive position and found it delivered better treadwear mileage and outperformed comparable new tires. The Bandag BRM3 was tested against two competitor tire offerings and results showed the BRM3 performed 16 percent better than such competitive tire offerings**. This example demonstrates what’s possible when premium casings and premium retreads work together to maximize performance.

*Disclaimer: based on test data of Drive tires in a Waste segment application

**Waste Segment results from one large fleet in Chicago against Drive position; BRM3 performs significantly better than GY XZUS2 and Michelin’s Endurance WHA by at least 16% (Dec 2017).

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