Authorities suspect a steer-tire blowout was the root cause of a spectacular and deadly collision in New Mexico on August 30, just ahead of the Labor Day weekend. The crash took place on Interstate 40 near the town of Thoreau, close to the Arizona state line. A truck heading eastbound on I-40 allegedly suffered a blowout of the right-hand steer tire, which appears to have caused the truck to veer across the highway, down through the median and directly into the path of a westbound Greyhound bus carrying 49 passengers. Seven people were killed in the crash, including the bus driver. The tr ..read more

How much of a difference can 5 or 10 pounds of inflation pressure make to a tire? To a drive or trailer tire, it’s probably insignificant. To a steer tire, it could be the difference between completing the trip safely or winding up on the national news in a messy and tragic wreck. Last Thursday, just before the Labor Day weekend, there was a deadly crash between a Greyhound bus and a tractor-trailer on Interstate 40 in New Mexico near the Arizona border. Seven passengers on the bus lost their lives when the truck crossed into the opposite lanes and struck the coach more or less head on. Author ..read more

Installing either TPMS or ATIS can prevent catastrophic tire damage and reduce maintenance. And now there’s a trend to deploying both systems for maximum positive impact on tire costs. Photo: iStockphoto.com/ryasick Tire pressure monitoring systems and automatic tire inflation systems have long been seen by fleets as competitive systems — you opt for one or the other, not both. Curious as to whether that view still holds true in the face of rapid changes in truck technology, including advances in data sensors and telematics connections, HDT reached out to suppliers of both systems to find out ..read more

Twisting and turning into a loading dock a few dozen times a day eats on-highway tires, but regional tires are built to take that sort of punishment. Photos: Jim Park Many regional fleets are splitting more of their time these days between traditional highway driving and urban driving. A truck might start the day in suburban Cleveland, drive to Columbus with a few inner-city deliveries in the morning, then head up to Toledo for some afternoon drop-offs before shooting home at the end of the day. A fleet running that kind of route on a daily basis will want a high-fuel-efficiency tire, but also ..read more

Curb strikes are inevitable in the close confines of a city. Guard against excessive damage with treads and sidewalls designed for the application. Photo: Jim Park Round and black is a definition often applied to tires of any stripe, but it does a disservice to the technology and engineering behind optimizing tires for specific applications. Tires designed and built for hard-scrabble regional service are quite different from those that will run 150,000 to 200,000 miles or more on silky-smooth interstate highways. A regional tire is seen as one used by businesses such as public utilities, gover ..read more

Continental estimates that it collects about 14 pounds of rubber buffings for each retread it produces. The material is collected by vacuum at the head of the buffer, and then reused in new tire production. Photos: Jim Park Sustainability is no longer just an annoying buzzword. People really care about it now, and some of those people might be shareholders in your company, or may be your customers. Some of the latter are now insisting that their supply chain partners take a proactive approach to sustainable business practices. Electric trucks are currently making a big splash in the marke ..read more

Do a shop tour, go into the manufacturing facility and learn about the process – what do they do to inspect the tires, to get them prepared for retreading?” says Southern Tire Mart’s John Boynton. Photo: Southern Tire Mart “I really wish every fleet had a deep understanding of the benefits of what retreading can do for their operations, because they are huge,” says John Boynton, who oversees operations for Southern Tire Mart. According to Dustin Lancy, Goodyear commercial product marketing manager, speaking on behalf of Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Centers, now may be a perfect time ..read more

Photo: Jim Park Right now, we are globally reliant on strained food supplies and logistics providers to deliver them. There has been a temporary change to driving hours regulations in order to accommodate these unprecedented times. But these temporary changes should not equate to a relaxation in a fleet operators’ driver safety management. In fact, driver safety should be managed more robustly than ever. A substantial number of drivers are being asked to work longer hours, leading to an increased likelihood of suffering with fatigue and sleep issues. We have also seen an increase in speeding i ..read more

Photo: David Mark via Pixabay The trucking industry has seen dramatic change in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every fleet — some have seen an uptick in business, while other businesses have suffered. But by and large, most fleets seem to feel the worst is behind us, and are now looking towards the future. To that end, based on our work with thousands of fleets around the world, we are seeing three telematics trends emerge: fleets are investing in video telematics, predictive analytics and enhanced driver safety measurement. While the telematics field is well established, video telem ..read more

C.H. Robinson recently integrated 19 transportation management systems (TMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems into the company’s single, global multimodal transportation management system, Navisphere. This integration offers real-time pricing and capacity assurance and nearly eliminates the time required to get market quotes and book loads, saving customers an average of one hour for every shipment. This automation also provides improved flexibility and efficiencies for shippers. “Without C.H. Robinson’s capacity assurance, the process would be like shopping online and hitting pu ..read more