Managing the tyres of a rental fleet of more than 1000 rental truck and trailers would be a daunting prospect for many, but it’s all in a day’s work for TR Group tyre manager Mike ‘Tyres’ Theyers.
A former Bridgestone NZ staff member for more than 22 years. Theyers says he works very closely with the hire process, to qualify the use of TR Group assets for a particular rental contract and ensure the right driver, steerer, and trailer tread patterns are fitted.
“Using my knowledge I’ve changed the way in which TR Group uses truck and trailer tyre compounds and tread patterns to best effect and we make sure we fit the right pattern to the particular asset for the required application,” says Theyers.
“People want the holy grail when it comes to tyres, being cheap, long-lasting, and fuel efficient, but the best piece of advice I can offer any transport operators is, don’t just focus on the invoice price of a tyre,” he says.
“Look instead at the whole of life cost, because the cheapest tyre up front might be the most expensive to your business in the long run,” says Theyers.
“One of your bigger costs is downtime and lost productivity of a truck due to tyre issues such as punctures or a tyre failure, and this is one of your most significant operating cost,” he says.
Theyers says TR Group are about to run tests on the Bridgestone Ecopia fuel-efficient compound tyres, but cautions that to measure the actual savings; a transport operator needs to know that their fuel data is accurate.
“You must have accurate fuel data before beginning such a comparison because how can you then measure savings and set appropriate benchmarks,” he says.
“Fuel efficient tyres cost on average 5% more to purchase, and the wear life may be a little less than a regular tyre, but the fuel saving from employing such tyres may be as much as 8%,” says Theyers.
“I cannot stress enough that having the correct air pressure for the load being carried is vital; under inflation creates heat, and heat is the biggest destroyer of truck and trailer tyres,” he says.
“Under-inflated tyres cause more movement of the sidewall, generating more heat, and reducing the operating efficiency and life of the tyre,” he says.
Theyers says TR Group has taken on the tyre management of transport fleets such as Downer, PBT, and the T&G Transport fleets.
He says the focus on all of these fleets has been to reduce their tyre cost per kilometre (CPK) through better data, better tread selection, better servicing, better pressure management and the appropriate use of technology where appropriate.
“By looking after your tyre, your tyre will look after you,” says Theyers.
“For example, from frequent servicing (pressure checks, rotations and matching) you can look to increase the number of retreads on that tyre casing.
T&G Transport have installed the Crossfire inflation monitoring system into its fleet which provides an easy visual guide for drivers to check tyre pressures.
Example: Tyres are set to a cold pressure of 90 PSI and the gauge will show yellow for correct pressure, red for 10psi over inflation and black for 10psi under inflation.
It’s an easy and quick way for the driver to check the tyres are at the correct inflation pressure during his daily pre-start check.
Theyers says that technology such as tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) can be capital intensive but may more than pay for themselves in some applications where the unit is time dependent and the load is perishable.
Currently, TR Group are conducting a TPMS system trial on a trailer unit running from Christchurch to Auckland, via the Cook Strait Ferry.
Theyers says this is an initial test where the system updates itself every twelve seconds, and will send an alert if the air pressure in the tyres drops below 80% of cold inflation pressure.
“We are trialing the technology, as we believe it could be a worthwhile investment to maintain productivity and cargo integrity,” he says.
“It’s an expensive capital expenditure that is not suitable for all, but some applications will certainly reap the benefits, a line haul truck missing a ferry due to tyre issues is one,” says Theyers.
