WHERE DO TYRE COSTS GO WHEN RESISTANCE IS LOW

The article examines the claims being made about the new generation of lorry tyres with low rolling resistance. It is estimated that the annual tyre costs for a typical 38t articulated lorry, covering about 85,000 miles a year in the UK, are about 4000 pounds. The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has also concluded that many hauliers could save significant running costs quite easily, by giving higher priority to tyre management and even by assigning more resources to it. It is hard to convince accountants or others of this, without a reasonably good understanding of how tyres work and how they are maintained. A current very difficult but important question is the effectiveness of tyres with low rolling resistance. This question is complex, because many variables other than tyre variables influence fuel consumption. Tyre manufacturers disagree about the importance of rolling resistance. Michelin publicises the merits of its new Energy tyres for cars and lorries. Avon considers it difficult and expensive to measure rolling resistance. Goodyear's G465 tyre is said to combine lower rolling resistance with longer tread life. Tyres with low rolling resistance cost more, and seem likely to save much less per year in fuel costs than the 1000 pounds sometimes claimed. Electronic monitoring of tyres seems likely to become feasible soon.