Is there strength in YOUR numbers?

As we put together this issue of Real Answers, we're impressed by the huge role numbers played in almost every one of our stories.

We begin by looking at the #1 truckstop in the world, Iowa 80, and then moved immediately to Premay Equipment Ltd., a firm of "Transport Architects," who routinely haul single loads of over one million pounds, using hundreds of tires.

One of our newest products is the M860, which, with its superior bead construction, can significantly increase the tread life and number of retreads refuse haulers and other severe service fleets can achieve, all the while carrying upwards of 10,000 lb per tire.

We'll also look at the fuel economy numbers produced by truck dashboard displays and why you may not want to take them to the bank!

Retreaded tires are such a great way to reduce tire costs that fully half the tires sold in North America every year are retreads. We'll make a quick review of half a century of the work of America's leading retreader, Bandag, which recently joined the Bridgestone family.

And we'll learn how a plant in Louisiana manages to produce some 400 million pounds of synthetic rubber that plays a major role in the tires you use every day.

We'll also learn why the numbers used to designate ply ratings for tires are giving way to letter codes, how Bridgestone is turning rubber and steel into ways to protect buildings from earthquake damage, and revisit a way to take tiny numbers - thousandths of an inch - and use them to help correct big vibration problems.

Speaking of numbers, this is page 1. Why not see what you'll find on page 2?