Leading tyre brands Bridgestone and Goodyear have introduced new products designed to cut costs for CV operators.
Bridgestone officially launched its new fuel efficient R-STEER 001 and R-DRIVE 001 tyres at a series of dealer roadshows, which also featured input from Bridgestone’s long term customer Ryder, reinforcing the message that by working in partnership both the operator and tyre supplier benefit.
Both new tyres, which will ultimately replace the highly successful R297 and M729, have been developed in response to the trend towards changing fleet operating conditions and a broader mix of usage conditions in regional applications, ranging from highway driving to light on-off-road usage. They offer lower rolling resistance, less irregular wear and so last longer.
Bridgestone’s UK product and marketing manager Andy Mathias said: “In what is still a challenging economic climate, one of the best ways for fleets to optimise their operations is to get the greatest possible use out of each one of their trucks.
“Using trucks for a variety of different jobs requires tyres which are just as versatile, which can cope with regional roads, highways and other lighter conditions, which is where the R-STEER 001 and R-DRIVE 001 products come into their own.”
Bridgestone also revealed a tyre cost calculator which allows fleets to see how much money they could save by using the company’s Total Tyre Life offering.
Goodyear meanwhile has for the first time launched TreadMax retread lines simultaneously with the introduction of brand new tyres. The inclusion of the KMAX and FUELMAX lines in retread means that Goodyear now offers its full range of commercial vehicle tyres as retreads, which provide performance close to that of new tyres.
Previously, retread versions have followed some time after the launch of new tyre lines. The simultaneous introduction of the TreadMax KMAX and FUELMAX versions means that operators can have their worn Max Technology tyres retreaded to the new designs right away. The new products are TreadMax KMAX D and TreadMax FUELMAX D drive tyres, and TreadMax KMAX T and TreadMax FUELMAX T trailer tyres.
“Until now, truck operators have had to buy new tyres in order to experience the benefits offered by the latest products. With TreadMax KMAX and FUELMAX those benefits are available now, and will help to further decrease costs per kilometre for our customers,” said Leszek Szafran, director retread operations EMEA. “We are also very pleased that we can now provide the full range of current Goodyear commercial vehicle tyres in our premium TreadMax range.”
To ensure a high quality tyre, only Goodyear Max Technology casings are used for TreadMax retreads, which use the same materials, tread designs and technology as the new tyres they replicate.
