Ontario Trucking News, Issue 114, January 2013

Tires & Wheels
Continental Dealers Add ContiLifeCycle Retreads
Fort Mill, South Carolina
- Three commercial
locations
from the former Tallmadge
Tire dealer group in
central New York have
entered into a partnership
and are selling ContiLife-
Cycle retreads produced
by G&G Tire, according
to Continental Tire the
Americas, LLC’s Commercial
Vehicle Tire Business
Unit.
Principals at the independently
owned Tallmadge
Tire of Binghamton,
N.Y. Inc., Tallmadge
Tire Service of Geneva,
N.Y. Inc. and Tallmadge
Tire Service of Cortland,
N.Y. Inc. said they are
distributing ContiTread
retreaded truck tires
produced at G&G Tire
in Plattsburgh, N.Y., an
official licensee of Con-
tinental’s ContiLifeCycle
retreading process, as of
summer 2012.
Kevin Bruno, owner of
G&G Tire, said his plant
converted to the ContiLifeCycle
process in June.
G&G now combines their
46 years of experience in
retreading with excellent
customer service from
Continental in order to
produce up to 20,000 ContiTreads
annually.
“The transition has been
very smooth,” said Bruno.
“Continental offered a
dedicated team; it only
took a few days to set
up the new process and
equipment. We definitely
have an advantage with
Continental and have received
positive feedback
as far as mileage, traction
and wear on the Conti-
Treads we produce.”
Fleets in New York familiar
with Continental truck
tires are now enjoying
the same tread designs
and performance through
ContiTread retread sales
at the three Tallmadge
locations in central New
York.
“We approached G&G
Tire to be the manufacturer
of the ContiTreads
on our behalf, and we can
now offer these retreads to
our customers, along with
Continental new truck
tires,” explained Rich Damianos,
Vice President of
Tallmadge Tire Service of
Cortland.
The three dealers stated
that Continental’s ContiLifeCycle
products gave
them distinct advantages
in their market.
“This will set us apart
from the other commercial
tire dealers in the area, to
offer these retreads that
emulate our flagship Continental
new tire line. I see
this as a great advantage
for our future and I’m
very confident it will be a
benefit to us,” said James
Scheffer, General Manager
at Tallmadge Tire of
Binghamton.
As the second oldest
General Tire dealer group
in the U.S., formed in
1932, the three independent
Tallmadge Tire dealerships
have a long history
with Continental products
and an extensive base of
Continental truck tire customers,
said Pete Ufholz,
President of Tallmadge
Tire Service of Geneva.
This made for an easy
transition to selling the
ContiTreads, he explained.
“We have a significant
base in Continental brand
customers, who represent
a large share of our commercial
tire business. They
know they have the right
product in their new tires,
with the ContiTreads, it is
easy to show them that we
can give them the exact
footprint of the tire they
have been running – now
as a retread,” said Ufholz.
“The response has been
great.”
Market acceptance has
been excellent and the
product spoke for itself,
Damianos added. “Our
customers see the value in
having the ContiLifeCycle
products that match with
the new tires. They’ve accepted
them, tested them
and are running them with
performance equivalent
to the new products, so
it’s a great cost savings
to them and a success for
us,” he said.
“We are very pleased
that our customers at
these Tallmadge Tire commercial
dealerships have
joined the ContiLifeCycle
family,” said Paul Williams,
Continental’s Executive
Vice President for truck
tires, the Americas. V
Kenworth Now Offers Michelin X SmartWay Tire
EPA SmartWay Verified
Tire Provides Fuel Efficiency
and Long Tread Life
Kirkland, Washington
- Kenworth now offers
the new Michelin X(R)
Line(TM) Energy D drive
tire for Kenworth heavy
and medium duty trucks
involved in line haul applications.
Designed for outstanding
traction and wear,
the new Michelin X Line
Energy D tire breaks the
paradigm of a traditional
fuel-efficient drive tire in
line haul by featuring an
aggressive tread pattern
that delivers Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
SmartWay(R) verified fuel
efficiency together with
long tread life, according
to Michelin.
“Kenworth provides the
latest fuel-efficient tires to
help enhance customers’
fuel economy. Fleets and
truck operators may especially
benefit when these
Michelin tires are paired
18 January 2013
with the EPA SmartWay
designated, aerodynamic
Kenworth T660, T680 and
T700,” said Judy McTigue,
Kenworth Director of Marketing
Planning and Research.
The Michelin X Line
Energy D tire is also available
for the Kenworth
C500, T270, T370, T440,
T470, T800 and W900.
The Michelin X Line
Energy D tire delivers
fuel economy with wear
resistance by utilizing
Michelin’s Dual Energy
Compound Tread. The top
layer of tread rubber is precisely
balanced to deliver
fuel
efficiency while exhibiting
the needed wear properties
to resist tread scrub.
The bottom layer of tread
rubber maintains cool
casing temperatures for
low rolling resistance and
extended casing life.
Kenworth is offering
the tire’s 22.5-inch version
for build in January
with the 24.5-inch version
expected to become
available later in the first
quarter of 2013.
This past summer, Ken-
worth began offering the
Michelin X(R) Multi(TM)
Energy D drive tire, which
is designed for optimized
traction and tread life
in regional and superregional
applications. The
EPA SmartWay designated
drive tire is available for
the T440, T470, T660,
T680, T700, T800 and
W900.
For more information,
contact your Kenworth
dealer or visit www.
michelintruck.com. V
Pressure sysTeMs inTernaTiOnal (P.s.i.)
Complete Tire Digest Volume VI Now Available
San Antonio, Texas
- Pressure Systems
International
(P.S.I.) is now offering
a full set of Volume VI
(Jan-Nov/Dec 2012) Commercial
Fleet Tire Digest
issues, as a printed spiral
bound book. The Commercial
Fleet Tire Digest
(www.psitiredigest.com)
is an authoritative guide
to reducing tire expenditures,
launched in 2007
and published eleven
times a year. It’s become
a must-have newsletter
for those interested in the
best practices required to
maintain a successful tire
program. Today, the Commercial
Fleet Tire Digest
is distributed electronically
each month to more
than eighteen hundred
individuals.
In each issue Al Cohn,
Director of New Market
Development and Engineering
Support for P.S.I.
discusses a subject of
particular interest to fleet
operators and others concerned
with tire safety,
wear and cost as well as
how to enhance fuel econ-
omy through tire technology
and use. The printed
books are an excellent
way to have this valuable
information ready to be
included in your library or
passed on to drivers, technicians
and anyone else
responsible for getting
the most from tires, which
are typically the highest
cost item for commercial
vehicle operators.
Volume VI books can be
ordered and past issues of
the Commercial Fleet Tire
Digest can be viewed and
downloaded at http://
www.psitiredigest.com/
archive. As a green-initiative
company, P.S.I. will
limit the number of spiral
bound books to the current
volume (2012) only.
For those wishing to print
their own past volumes
(Years 2007-2011), covers
are also included on the
archive page.
If you wish to be added
to the free monthly email
distribution of future
issues, please complete
the subscription form at
www.psitiredigest.com/
subscribe.html. V