Cut fleet costs with tyres from Continental

Although 2009 promises to be a challenging time for UK operators, truck tyre manufacturer Continental is convinced that there are still ways for fleets to counteract rising financial pressures.

The selection of the right tyres from the outset for instance has been proven to have a considerable influence on operator running costs. “Our new HTR 2 trailer tyre or HTL 1 Ecoplus make an important contribution to reducing costs in the transport sector,” highlights Geert Roik, Senior Vice President Research & Development, OE Truck Tyres at Continental in Hanover. The economy of vehicles and fleets is influenced heavily by the rolling resistance of tyres, but as each fleet operator knows from experience it is difficult to determine the influence of tyres on fuel consumption. Many external factors like the weather, driving styles and different loads play a part.

However, Mr Roik continued: “Rolling resistance is the decisive factor, even more than the mileage. It accounts for eight percent of the total running costs.” In view of this, the mileage of a tyre is increasingly taking second place in the assessment criteria.

Continental has held a leading role in the optimization of rolling resistance for many years. The work in reducing tyre weight has led to a direct improvement in the rolling resistance and by applying new technology, the manufacturer has achieved further quantum leaps in the new generation of products that is heralded by the HTR 2.

A new belt design has given this tyre five percent less rolling resistance compared with its predecessor despite a larger tread volume, which means more material. This is supported by an intelligent tread design that optimizes the movement of the tyre in such a way that the rolling resistance could be further reduced in this area too. Roik emphasizes that the engineers working on the HTR 2 have created a trailer tyre that takes the leading position among the competition in terms of mileage and rolling resistance.

In daily use, the tyre pressure plays a major part. If the tyre loses pressure, the rolling resistance will increase. “Rolling resistance rises by four percent for every bar below the correct pressure,” explains Roik. Tyres that are overinflated also do not roll properly. The tyre wear is increased and the vehicle safety is affected. Continental uses the patented Air-KeepTM technology in its new products. A special mixture in the inner layer has allowed the permeability to air to be reduced by 50 percent. The diffusion losses between the maintenance intervals are minimized considerably. Positive side effects are an improvement in the wear pattern as this is considerably more even at the ideal inflation pressure than at low pressure.

The weight of the tyres is also decisive when it comes to reducing costs. The lighter the tyre, the more load the truck can carry. For Bernd Stern, manager of carrier Kerpen & Kerpen based in Ochtendung, this was a clearly convincing sales argument. “We can load around 100 kilograms more on each vehicle with the Continental tyres,” he says. He reckons that this allows an additional income of around €100,000 for 220 working days and 135 trucks. “Our silo trucks always drive fully loaded, therefore each additional kilo that we can carry is money in the bank.”

For many years, Continental has focused on the continued improvement of the remolding capability of its truck tyres. Tyres from the latest generation, like the HTR 2 trailer tyre, use an optimized triangular belt and a steel cord bead in addition to the usual metallic cord carcass. Furthermore the tyre experts in Hanover are constantly developing the flow pattern of the tyre. While in the early years long field tests in close cooperation with large fleets demonstrated the tyres capability, today high-performance simulations provide clear results within just a few hours or days. As a result today’s customers get tyres that wear so evenly that, at end of the tyre’s first life, there is hardly any extra material left on the carcass.

This then also allows operators to save money with remolded tyres. “This is definitely another way of counteracting the cost pressure in the industry for small and medium-sized companies,” sums up Continental man Roik.

Fuel Savings Calculator

Continental has provided a Fuel Savings Calculator on its website conti-online.com as a useful tool for fleet operators. You will find it by navigating to Products – Truck & Bus Tyres – Truck Tyres Goods – Fuel Saving – Fuel Saving Calculator.

The calculator will automatically calculate how many litres of fuel a vehicle fitted with Continental tyres will save compared with the competition. The system also shows the financial benefits and the reduction in CO2 emissions.