Tire Safety: Customer education remains the primary barrier

The fact remains that many customers are increasingly unaware...

Summer brings mixed blessings to Western Canada this year, from floods in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to one of British Columbia’s wettest springs on record. However, it’s guaranteed that hot weather will arrive with a vengeance, and with it the usual challenges that face summer drivers as they embark on vacations that often involve lengthy road trips.

Despite the onslaught of public awareness programs such as ‘Be Tire Smart’ or National Tire Safety Week in the U.S., the fact remains that many customers are increasingly unaware of what’s needed to ensure their cars—and specifically their tires—are in the best of condition to help make their trip safe and uneventful.

In particular, the almost complete disappearance of full-service gas stations in favour of self-serve stations—that place more emphasis on selling snacks and soft drinks than suggesting drivers might even think to check their tire pressure—has helped lull customers into a false sense of security.

The fact remains that long, hot summer travel days can be the tire’s greatest enemy.

And the question is: How well do you communicate to your customer the need to ensure their tires are properly inflated; have sufficient tread remaining; are damage free and regularly checked; especially prior to a long road trip?

Consumer Reports states that in a five year period between 2005-2009, in the U.S., a staggering almost 3,400 people died and about 116,000 were injured in tire-related crashes.

As Consumer Reports notes, “Many such crashes are preventable with periodic tire checks, particularly before a long trip in hot temperatures. Tires are more susceptible to stress from heat, especially if they are not fully inflated.”

Also, interestingly, the arrival of Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) while contributing greatly to peace of mind can also contribute to driver unwillingness to take more individual responsibility for their own safety. Also, it pays to note that most TPMS only register a pressure decrease of 25 percent or more.

Key points that many drivers still overlook include the following:

• It still pays to check inside the driver’s door, fuel filler door or glove compartment to check the recommended pressure and inflate the tires accordingly. However, these recommendations may be compromised, especially in summer, when family belongings may overload the vehicle.   • It’s an old trick that still works: In the absence of a tread depth gauge, use a penny place in a regular groove to check the remaining tread. If there’s any space visible above the Queen’s head, it’s likely that less than 2/32nds of an inch tread depth remains. The tire should be replaced.   • Regularly perform a quick visual check of tires for cuts, cracks or abnormal sidewall bulges that could suggest sidewall damage or broken plies.   • Check tires for aging, especially on older vehicles. The last four digits of the DOT number will provide the year and month of manufacture, a valuable resource for the tire technician. Most suggest tires should be replaced at six years of age and in several jurisdictions it is now mandatory to discard any tire over ten years old, regardless of wear.

As gas prices rise, customers raise their voices accordingly. But how many of today’s drivers actually connect their tire inflation to fuel economy, to the degree that they check their pressures with regularity? While up to a 25 percent drop in pressure can increase fuel consumption by as much as 9 percent or more, studies such as those conducted by Consumer Report and Transport Canada find that fuel economy varies greatly depending on the model of the car; tire conditions and driving habits; while even a modest drop in tire pressure can impact handling, braking, and overall safety.

These pointers may sound like old news to some but they’re still relevant for everyone, especially for newer, younger drivers, who are more accustomed to relying on technology and convenience than perhaps paying attention to such details.

As an independent tire dealer, you represent the prime and often sole opportunity to re-educate your customer as to the critical need for proper tire care and constant pressure maintenance to contribute to the safest possible operation of their vehicle.

After all, their life depends on it.

The question is: Are you doing enough to make sure your customer understands?

- by Tim Pawsey, Editor

Sun Shines on WCTD golf Tournament

Sponsors’ generosity ensures a huge success...

The 26th Annual WCTD Golf Tournament was held at the Ravencrest Golf and Country Club on June 5th, 2011 and it turned out to be a great day for playing golf. On behalf of WCTD, I would like to thank the Ravencrest Golf and Country Club for hosting this event and preparing a nice meal after everyone’s round.

First and foremost, we would like to thank everyone who donated a prize or prizes for this tournament to make it a huge success. Here’s a list of companies that sponsored each hole and also brought some nice prizes to the table:

A Big Thank-You goes out to Federated Insurance for sponsoring the “Hole-in-One” prize of $10,000 in which nobody claimed. Better luck next year!

The winning team for this “Best Ball” tournament all came from Trican Distributors. Doug Hoffman, Joe Turner, Shane Cahill and Lorne Kuziemsky combined their efforts to achieve a 7 under 65. Congratulations guys!

The following award-winners were successful at designated prize holes throughout the course. They are:

If you have any feedback regarding this past tournament, please email Darrell Budney at Trail Tire Distributors - darrell@trailtire.com.

Hope to see you all next year!

- Bob Martins

Tire repair goes big time

Repairability: the vital and too often overlooked factor in OTR tire management

When we talk about Off-the-Road (OTR) tires, most people immediately think about the gigantic equipment with tires as tall as a single story house. But OTR tires are also part of the local sand and gravel pits as well as the municipalities and small construction companies.

No matter how you look at it, practically every segment of the construction industry is dependent upon mining. Without it, there wouldn’t be roads, utilities or the materials to provide a foundation for the structure being built. The current OTR tire shortage is proving to all segments of the mining and construction industries the importance of tire maintenance and getting the maximum efficiency and longevity from your tire investments.

Realizing the best cost-per-hour from an OTR tire is recognizing when and if a tire can be effectively retreaded and/or repaired. A typical 57” OTR tire stands about 12 feet tall and can cost $50,000 or more to replace. This same tire, if properly managed, can be retreaded for approximately 40 to 50% less than the cost of new, thereby providing mine operators with significant savings.

Repairability

The vital and too often overlooked factor in OTR tire management is their repairability.

The last shortage of all sizes of OTR tires spawned a whole new interest in quality repair methods and materials for these giant tires. This segment of tire management is an industry unto itself with only a handful of qualified manufacturers and trained technicians who can instruct tire repair personnel in the best ways to perform this difficult and extremely cost effective service.

A severely damaged tire like the one mentioned above can also be repaired for a fraction of the replacement cost before going back into service to run out its life or get another life through retreading.

Materials

For many decades basic tire repair standards and material have been available but with the advent of much larger radial tires, mega-size haul trucks, longer and more difficult haul roads, tire repair has become a hot item for mine managers and tire management firms all over the world. Tire repair manufacturers have had to change the old standards and parameters of reparability and to accomplish this we have developed new materials and components for tire repair products, new designs for these repair units and much more refined training programs to ensure best results.

For the most part, tire “patches” have traditionally been made using nylon, polyester or Kevlar cord plies embedded in rubber. Some have been totally uncured and equire a vulcanizing process to properly bond the repair unit to the tire, others are “precured”, using the same components, but require only a chemical vulcanizing process. Yet another style of repair “patch” uses a dual-cure system which has the flexibility of being able to use a heat cure system or chemical application. Each style has found its place in the market and everyone has an opinion as to which they prefer. Cable replacement technology has also found its own niche in the OTR tire repair industry and has changed the parameters of standard tire repairs in many areas.

Giant off-the-road (OTR) tires play a vital role in all mining operations throughout the world, some with up to 400 tons of carrying capacity. The larger sizes of OTR tires can weigh up to 12,000 pounds each. With this kind of weight and highly engineered casing design, tire manufacturers as well as end users and tire service ompanies now realize more than ever the importance of proper repair techniques. This is not an area where shortcuts are even considered, the financial repercussions could be staggering, not to mention the safety and welfare of everyone at the site.

At the end of the day, the lowest cost per working hour for the tire is one of the most important factors involving tire usage at mines and worksites, second only to the safety of the personnel involved. Responsible users tend not to go the cheapest route but instead will regularly monitor their repair procedures to ensure the best results.

Outsourcing

If you don’t have the expertise, ability or trained technicians to properly maintain your tires, consider outsourcing this part of your business to a competent tire service company. This is actually an emerging trend. Through this practice more companies are focusing on their core business of moving ore and leaving the tire program to experts in the field. These service companies know how to ensure correct repair procedures, perform tire pressure checks and are aware of how to identify problems such as over-loading, speeding, poor road management and dual tire mismatching to name only a few of the issues faced. All of these issues seriously shorten the life of the tire and create a poor cost-per-hour factor for the site management to deal with.

The repair industry plays a very important part in helping those in the giant tire industry to be environmentally responsible citizens, enabling giant tire users to do their part while being more efficiently productive. Environmentally speaking, repairing and/or retreading a giant tire saves our planet an enormous amount of natural resources and enables the tire to enjoy a second – and sometimes even a third life cycle in full service.

Learn to get the best return on your OTR tire investment; it’s a much larger and more costly component of the mining and construction industry than you may think.

- Wayne Jackson, International Tire Repair Solutions Inc.

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