Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/833076
30 | Overdrive | June 2017 A tire might look like a simple component – a round piece of rubber with a tread design – though it's anything but. Like- wise, tire performance has to do with more than simply moving your truck down the road. "There's a lot of engineering that goes into a tire," says Gary Schroeder, director of global truck and bus for Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. "Not just the construction, but the compounding, especially the tread compounding with rolling resistance." "Compounding, casing and tire archi- tecture contribute significantly to wear and fuel and weight savings," says Bill Walmsley, product category manager for Michelin Americas Truck Tires. Of all the attributes that make up a tire, and considering all aspects of per- formance they aff ect, tread is perhaps the most important in choosing a tire. "The first step is to determine what your goals are for your tire program," Walmsley says. For over-the-road opera- tions, a common goal is to maximize fuel savings, while more localized opera- tions may focus on lowering cost per mile, he says. "The more rubber you have making contact to the road, typically the better the tire is going to perform, and you'll get longer wear out of it that way," Schroeder says. Selecting a tire with the wrong tread pattern for its application can lead to premature wear and reduced perfor- WHERE THE RUBBER MEE TS THE ROAD Tread design, depth and construction affect tire longevity and performance. In severe service applica- tions, it's common for tires to have big tread lugs and deeper tread depth. For some operators, a major goal is to maximize the tire's extended life by taking into account the casing's retreadability. BY JASON CANNON Goodyear