Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/358493
46 | Overdrive | August 2014 EquipmEnt — 1001 Fannin Street, Suite 500, Houston, TX 77002 TRAFFIC LEGEND Job No.: 1086108 A20 Description: 9 to 5 mirror Hardworking ad Live: Trim: 2.25 x 9.5 Bleed: Prepared by JWT/Houston Media Space: CMYK-full page Media Issues: OVERDRIVE Creative Director: Art Director: Braun Copywriter: Client Account: Bennett Production: Bennett Vendor: Studio: See initials please Filed: ROUTING SIGNATURE DATE O.K. CHANGE REVISION NUMBER PRODUCTION PROOFREADER COPYWRITER ART DIRECTOR ACCT. EXEC. TRAFFIC *As demonstrated in 2009 on- the-road fi eld testing in medium duty trucks, highway cycles, compared to Shell Rotella ® T Triple Protection ® 15W-40. YOU DON'T WORK 9 TO 5, THAT'S WHY THERE'S AN OIL THAT WORKS 24/7. Long hours. Overnight hauls. To you, that's standard procedure. And that's why we created an oil that works overtime. Shell Rotella ® T6 Full Synthetic engine oil is our hardest working oil yet. It delivers the engine cleanliness and wear protection you expect from Shell Rotella, ® improved protection in extreme temperatures and up to 1.5% in fuel economy savings. * In fact, Shell Rotella ® T6 never stops giving you its best every day. Kinda like you. Learn more at www.rotella.com THE SYNTHETIC ENGINE OIL THAT WORKS AS HARD AS YOU. 1086108_A20_9to5Mirror_HW_OVERDRIVE_2_25x9_5.indd 1 2/6/14 5:05 PM Untitled-12 1 2/7/14 9:27 AM Text INFO to 205-289-3555 or visit www.ovdinfo.com Guy Walenga, director of commercial products engineer- ing for Bridgestone Americas, says, "I hear drivers say today that by giving up tread wear, their cost per mile will go up. They're right, but if their fuel economy has gone up, they're making money. "Drivers that are buying fuel-efficient tires know tire costs are going up, and they also know that at the end of the year, their overall MPG number has increased by 6 or 7 percent or more. They're not getting the same cost per mile, though, because these new tires are designed for fuel economy, not mileage." With conventional tires, it was easy to determine cost per mile, Walenga says: Divide the tire's cost by its accrued mileage. Today, drivers have to incorpo- rate fuel cost into the calculation to get a full understanding of the new fuel-efficient tire dynamic. "This new method gives you your total tire cost per mile," Walenga says. "The first thing fleet managers say when they do the math is 'That's a bigger number,' but it only looks big compared to the figures they're used to seeing. The context of tire cost and fuel savings has to be built around that number." A truck that runs 120,000 miles a year uses $80,000 worth of die- sel, based on $4 a gallon, so even slight fuel savings per tire can add up to a lot over a year. On a tractor-trailer combi- nation, the steer tires contribute 15 to 20 percent to total tire fuel economy, drive tires 30 to 40 percent, and trailer tires about 40 to 50 percent, says William Estu- pinan, vice president of technical service for Giti Tire USA. "Considering that trailer tires have the biggest impact on fuel economy and that trailer tires represent the biggest population in the average fleet in America, selecting the proper trailer tires will have the biggest impact on miles per gallon consumed than any other wheel position," Estu- pinan says. "There is no one-size-fits-all universal solution," says Donn Kramer, director of prod- uct innovation for Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems. "By working with your tire dealer, you can factor in all of the variables and all of your requirements, in- cluding those that go beyond fuel efficiency, such as preservation of casing integrity, miles to removal, retreadability and so on. "Maintaining correct infla- tion pressure is the single most important maintenance practice that can positively affect tire wear, casing integrity and overall tire performance." Where do tires fit in fuel economy? Tire rolling resistance is the third-biggest factor affecting a vehicle's fuel econ- omy, says Rick Phillips, senior director of commercial and over-the-road tires for Yokohama Tire. For a typical Class 8 tractor at normal operating conditions, here's where the fuel goes: • 60% is consumed by the engine's inefficiency and parasitic power loss. • 21% is consumed by aerodynamic drag. • 13% is consumed by overcoming tire rolling resistance. • 4% is consumed by the load. • 2% is consumed by the drivetrain. A tire underinflated by 10 percent can result in a 20 percent loss in fuel econ- omy, so even if a driver does everything right, researches all of his options and chooses to run fuel-efficient tires, he won't realize any benefit if he fails to keep them properly inflated.