Contractors Hot Line is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
Contractors Hot Line is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
Traveling across challenging surfaces strewn with rocks, nails and debris, means that tires on construction vehicles and equipment face obstacles unlike those in other types of operations.
“For construction contractors, those types of tires need to be optimized for durability and high mileage, as well as cut-and-tear resistance and minimal stone retention,” said Shaun Uys, VP of commercial vehicle tires, U.S. at Continental. “They also need to be made for durability and traction.”
Tony Cresta, director of product management at CMA LLC/Double Coin, said one of the biggest tire-related issues contractors face with tires is downtime.
“Your equipment may change jobsites multiple times in a month, depending on the progression of each job and the needs on site,” he related. “Having equipment down can delay the progress of not one but multiple job sites, and time is money.”
“The biggest tire issue that construction contractors face is uptime, the same issue facing worksite and equipment managers everywhere,” agreed Josh Altier, category planning & customer service manager, Global & Americas OTR, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
“We believe the search for more uptime inevitably leads to a focus on tires because tires are one of the largest investments many contractors make. Nothing rolls without them so today we’re making investments in the design, compounding and construction of our tires.”
“We work with our dealers and customers to understand their needs and invest in tire maintenance practices that help increase performance and extend usable tire life,” Altier continued. “We’re also focused on building maintenance programs with our customers to efficiently inspect tires and to track performance so we can make actionable decisions based on data analysis and insights.
“We believe in being a proactive partner for our customers to manage their up-front capital investment and ongoing maintenance plans to optimize their tire investment.”
Relationships with tire dealers that operate service trucks, have the personnel capabilities for service calls and carry the inventory customers need is a great way to minimize on/off-road tire-related downtime, noted Tony Cresta at Double Coin.
“Double Coin doesn't offer programs directly, but many of our servicing dealer partners do,” Cresta said. “Programs can be as simple as getting a walkaround tire checkup, more detailed tire health reports on air pressures and tread depths, wear patterns, etc. in your fleet, or signing up with a tire dealer for a fleet tire maintenance program. Having a service call on your schedule can make a massive difference in upfront costs and on-site productivity.”
Technology Facilitates Improved Service Practices
Continental’s digital tire monitoring system, ContiConnect, provides construction contractors with a way to monitor the health and performance of their tires. With the digital tire monitoring system, a contractor can choose between a tire mounted sensor or a valve cap sensor to monitor tires. The tire mounted sensor can track pressure, temperature range and mileage, and has Bluetooth capabilities, while the valve cap sensor can measure pressure and temperature range.
Both types of sensors can be paired with either of Continental’s digital tire monitoring systems ContiConnect Live or ContiConnect Yard. For construction contractor vehicles, Continental recommends utilizing their ContiConnect Yard solution due to its ease of integration and less hardware components, which for fleets who regularly return to a dedicated checkpoint daily usually offers the highest return on investment.
Goodyear offers tire pressure monitoring systems like its tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS) heavy duty (HD) and its EMTrack (enhanced mobility tracking) off-the-road (OTR) tire performance management system. Both provide real-time data to help maximize tire performance.
Goodyear TPMS HD provides critical alerts and insight-driven reports. The connected solution continuously captures tire pressure and temperature to detect under- or over-inflation, air leaks and potential mechanical issues. The data captured with the TPMS technology feeds into the Goodyear G-Predict technology, a suite of algorithms that provides actionable insights of potential incidents before they become an issue.
The Goodyear EMTrack system provides fleet survey reporting information. The all-in-one dashboard solution is used to track key metrics, get ahead of potential service issues and optimize tire spending.
Manufacturers Are Offering the Latest in On/Off-Road Tires
Continental’s on-/off-road tire lineup is made up of the HCS, HDO and Conti Terra HD3. Each of the tires are M+S (mud and snow) certified to handle all weather conditions with tread designed to provide excellent traction in off-road conditions and minimize stone retention, along with cut and tear resistant compounding to provide longer mileage. The tires are also engineered to protect against curbing, cuts and abrasions.
Continental’s construction lineup made up of Conti HAC 3/HSC 3 & HDC 3 tires are offered for customers with equipment that spends most of the time on roads between job sites or who need traction and durability entering and exiting job sites but solid performance for on road use. For customers needing even more traction and deeper tread depth Continental’s HDC1 HT is designed with specific shoulder notches to assist with chaining.
Double Coin’s latest tire for on/off-road use is the REM2-S, an all-season 25-inch radial. Offered initially in a 20.5R25 size, 14.00R24, 17.5R25 and 23.5R25 sizes will be available this summer.
The REM-2S is an all-weather/snow radial OTR tire designed with a wide, non-directional tread pattern for increased traction. The tire’s tread siping allows for use in severe conditions while its wide blocks are designed for a flatter footprint and longer life.
Earlier this year, Goodyear announced the addition of the RL-5K tire to their off-the-road portfolio. Offered in a 45/65R45 tire size, the RL-5K is constructed to withstand the air pressure necessary to deliver an increased three-star load capacity, which translates to a 16% increase in load carrying capacity versus its predecessor.
Last year, Goodyear introduced the 46/90R57 RH-4A+, an OTR tire for E-4+ haulage designed to deliver cut protection and wear in hard rock underfoot conditions with an extra-deep tread pattern. The tire also features the company’s Durawall technology that provides sidewalls with lateral stiffness, cut protection and casing durability.