Where do we start?

Recycling is relatively easy in concept: take something no longer useful and make it new — or useful — again. But before we "recycle," we should "reduce" and "reuse."

Let's start by looking at ways to reduce your consumption of tires, fuel and money.

[REDUCE]

And money? Now you have our attention.

Let's face it: more fleets will embrace the idea of being green if their wallet gets a bit greener, too. And smaller fleets may afford to do so.

It takes 22 gallons of petroleum to build a truck tire. So to consume less fuel, buy fewer tires. But fleets run on tires.

To illustrate our point, let's paint a very broad picture.

If diesel were free, the way to cut costs would be to buy tires with high removal mileage. Since you're only paying for tires, you want them to last as long as possible.

Now, let's turn that around and imagine the tires are free. Now you don't care how many tires you go through, your first priority is fuel efficiency.

Unfortunately neither diesel nor tires are free. So you have to put pencil to paper and find out how to consume fewer tires and less fuel.

How do we begin?

With a plan. Cost per mile is the good place to start. The Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) offers a Tire Cost Determination recommended practice (RP 208C) to help you analyze tire expenses.

Simply put, tire cost is calculated by adding replacement, original and emergency purchases with retreading and casing costs; plus tire repair, labor and accessories and scrap disposal; subtract any warranty adjustments
and casing credits. Take that number and divide it by
total annual tire mileage.

While this is straightforward, some fleets want to evaluate additional factors.

What is a practical way of doing so?

Call your Bridgestone territory manager and they will bring over several different programs. One is Tire Life Cycle Cost (TLCC), Bridgestone's computer program that evaluates additional factors for a fleet's cost per mile such as retreadability, casing credits and repair and maintenance costs.

We'll be examining Tire Life Cycle Cost in a future issue of Real Answers magazine.

What about fuel economy?

A large part of TLCC is that it balances — and that's the key word — tire life against fuel consumption. It uses real costs, real tread life and other real-world factors rather than guesswork about what you could achieve.

What the computer program does is help you make a fair evaluation of tire cost, wear and fuel economy so you can buy the tires that help you consume less.

And then?

Know your optimum inflation pressures. And maintain them. That comes with a tire program. And a good tire policy.

Your customized tire policy details the rules, assigns the roles and spells out replacement tire and retread recommendations so your fleet can consume fewer tires and less fuel.

What exactly is a tire policy?

Everybody knows inflation pressures need to be checked, but who does it? What's the pressure? Is it the same for each axle position? How often do you inspect? Rotate? Balance? When do you pull the steers? How many repairs per casing are allowed? All of these questions are answered in a tire policy so everybody on the team knows what their job is and how to do it.

It takes a while to put together a tire policy — again, it's a team effort among your Bridgestone representative, your Bridgestone tire dealer, your Bandag retreader and you. The tire policy helps your team choose the best products, procedures and practices to maximize performance and minimize your cost per mile.

Shop cards serve as "surrogate supervisors" for your employees and in some cases, even service shops, providing direction for most situations.

Why has it been so successful?

Because Bridgestone works hard to make it easy.

Information such as tire specifications, maintenance, repair, retreading and scrapping standards, is summarized on one page. Bridgestone makes these laminated cards for the use of servicing tire dealers and retreaders. And since it's laminated, dirty, greasy fingerprints wipe right off.

Sounds good, but how does it reduce consumption?

A tire policy is a long-term tire management plan for your entire fleet operation. Plan needs to be underscored. Your fleet will have a plan that details who checks tire pressures. When pressures are checked. And how much pressure should be maintained. Also, which tires are bought and from whom. It details repairs so your fleet isn't scrapping casings when they could be repaired. And it ensures tires aren't pulled from service when usable tread is available. Fleets need to find a balance so they don't pull too late and wreck their casings, or pull too early and lose original miles. Being consistent in a plan affects your cost per mile, reduces fuel consumption, and improves wear so you consume fewer tires.

[REUSE]

Let's talk about ways of reusing tires.

Retread! Most everyone in this industry knows our good friend, Harvey Brodsky, who's the managing director of the Tire Retreading & Repair Information Bureau or TRIB, as it's often called. Harvey, what do you say about retreading as a way of helping the environment?

"Being 'green' is something we want our neighbors to do. We want to save the environment, but it's more expensive to buy recycled products. Not with retreads.

"When it comes to saving money and helping the environment, retreading has always been green, even before it was 'cool' to be green. By using retreads you can do the planet a favor while improving your fleet's bottom line!"

How is that?

"It takes 22 gallons of petroleum to build a new tire — it takes just 7 to manufacture a retread. Retreads produced today by top quality retreaders can offer incredible reliability and they cost less."

Can you explain that further?

"Top quality retreaders have an adjustment rate of less than one percent. And here's the reason why: each and every casing undergoes non-destructive testing to check its structural integrity.

"Today's retreaders are like Superman with x-ray vision. They use laser shearography, x-ray and radio frequency analysis to literally look inside your tire casings.

"Every casing is tested so that means the retreads you get are very reliable."

What about cost per mile?

"There's no better way to decrease your cost per mile than with retreads! Today's fleets are saving over $2 billion annually by using retreads.

"Retreads cost roughly 50 percent less than new tires. And with the right maintenance, the average fleet gets two to three retreads from a premium casing. Buying the right retread gives your fleet one of the lowest cost per mile numbers possible."

Why aren't more fleets recycling?

"It's not a recycling issue. It's not a money issue. They had a bad experience and they swore off retreads forever. But it could have been ten years ago. It could have been 20 or even 30 years ago.

"But times have changed. I tell people all the time, if you haven't been in a modern retreading facility in some time, you're in for a big surprise. They use the latest technology, and build products used by the biggest and best fleets in the country."

That's a strong argument for using retreads.

"Absolutely. Retreads are a better value than ever. Retreaded tires are reused casings kept from the scrap pile, so they help you run a green fleet, and improve your bottom line!"

We've discussed REDUCING fuel and tire consumption and REUSING your worn casings. Now let's examine ways your fleet can recycle worn casings. We talked to Michael Blumenthal, vice president at the Rubber Manufacturers Association.

Playground and garden mulch is made from shredded tires.