Tires Aren’t Sexy?

Tires Aren’t Sexy?

By David Whitmore, Original Equipment Sales Manager, U.S. Continental Tire North America, Inc,. Commercial Vehicle Tire Division – Industrial Tires Business Unit

When someone at a cocktail party asks me what I do for a living, I almost feel sorry for them as they attempt to look intrigued after I’ve told them I sell industrial tires. But it’s when I divulge to them that most of what I sell are forklift tires that I see their “fight or flight” instinct takeover as they begin scanning the room in a desperate search for an escape route.

Granted, forklift tires aren’t exactly sexy like those found on, say, a Formula One race car or a 12 ft.-high monster truck. But without them, forklifts wouldn’t be operable. Goods around the world wouldn’t get loaded onto trucks, trains, barges and planes, and the global economy would literally grind to a halt within days. Then would come the Plague, locusts, and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse (o.k., that may be a bit of an exaggeration…).

But sexy or not, forklift tires represent big business. According to information posted at the Industrial Truck Association’s Web site - www.indtrk.org, between 1999 and 2008, an average of more than 120,000 new forklifts were shipped annually in the U.S. (not counting motorized hand trucks). Assuming an average of four tires per forklift, this equates to almost a half million tires annually in the U.S. for new forklifts alone. Of course, it’s the tire replacement business that represents 90 percent plus of forklift tire consumption. Considering that the average useful life of a forklift is around 10 years, simple math explains why there are multiple players competing for this business. 

While to most people tires are all basically the same — round, black, and made of rubber — those of us  in the industrial tire business (whether we admit we are or not) realize how much of an impact forklift tires can have on a company’s bottom line, especially in areas such as fuel consumption, maintenance costs, productivity and safety.

For example, in the tire business it is known that tires can have a profound impact on fuel consumption—in large part due to their rolling resistance. This is the force needed to keep a wheel rolling, but, too much resistance negatively affects fuel economy. Although rolling resistance is influenced by the dynamic properties of the tire, including its construction, geometry, load and temperature, the most important is the damping of the rubber.  Damping refers to the amount of energy that is absorbed by a tire as it rolls under the weight of a vehicle as compared to the amount of energy that is repelled away from the tire.  Usually, the more elastic a rubber compound, the less energy it will absorb.  Because absorbed energy turns into heat, the amount of elasticity in a tire is a critical consideration. 

Continental engineers attack the rolling resistance problem with their careful selection of materials, tread designs, compounding and other exciting cocktail party topics. It may not sound as important a factor as does durability or initial cost, but rolling resistance really can make a measurable difference in your operating costs.  In fact, according to one study done by Continental engineers, for every 10 percent reduction in rolling resistance generated by tires, the amount of energy consumed by the vehicle is reduced by almost two percent. This may not sound like much until you consider that our testing has shown the rolling resistance generated by Continental’s industrial tires is, in some cases, more than 40 percent lower than some of our top competitors. For companies operating fleets of forklifts, the potential for energy savings and a reduce “carbon footprint” can be substantial.

Another perhaps even less sexy, but none-the-less important quality to look for in tires is endurance.  The question becomes though, how do we define durability? Again, I’ll point you to the exciting world of Continental engineering and scientific testing.  

Another test, used to measure tire endurance (also known as a “step load” test), was recently conducted using the most popular forklift tire size in the U.S.—a 16 X 6 X 10 ½.  The test entailed our engineers putting our tires and seven of our top competitors’ tires under the full rated load over a given distance, and increasing that load in steps—25% at a time—until each tire reached its failure point.  On average, each of our competitors’ tires failed after traveling 440 K (273 miles) compared to 750 K  (466 miles) with the Continental tires.  This additional 70 percent in tire mileage represents an incredible amount of potential for substantial gains in productivity, throughput, and uptime.

Continental refers to the entire impact of your tire selection as the “Total Cost of Ownership.” For some operations, only the initial purchase price of the tire is considered. It’s understandable that—in the current economy-- it’s tough to look past the price tag especially when we’re talking about sizable amounts of equipment that need tires on a regular basis. But there are very good reasons why a premium industrial or forklift tire comes with a higher purchase price and the advantages you’ll gain will pay for themselves. As previously mentioned, fuel consumption and durability are areas where value can truly be increased, as are safety, ease of service, disposal cost and even driver comfort.

In fact, we’ll put our money where our mouth by guaranteeing that Continental industrial tires provide the lowest cost per hour—in writing.  For details, call 1-877-235-0102 and ask about “The Conti Challenge” or you can also call me directly at (602) 697-1754.

Well, presumably you now know more about industrial tires than you did before reading this highly informative, engrossing article.  Now you’ll be able to walk the aisles at the next industrial vehicle tradeshow with a certain amount of swagger while pontificating about rolling resistance, step load endurance testing, and total cost of tire ownership.

But the next time you think about bringing this stuff up at the next cocktail party, have an hors d’oeuvre instead.. 

About the Author:

David Whitmore has more than ten years of sales and marketing experience within the material handling industry including positions with Caterpillar (now MCFA), Daewoo (now Doosan Infracore), Maine Tire, and the past two with the industrial tire business unit of Continental Tire North America, Inc., currently in the role of Original Equipment Sales Manager. David says he has made several attempts “to escape the sector” over the years “but is continually sucked back in” to the point where has resigned himself to his fate. In fact, he confided to us at IUV Magazine that “truth be told, it’s good to be back.”