Gaining Traction

Tires are among a solid waste fleet’s biggest investments, points out Sanjay Nayakwadi, director, product strategy, commercial marketing, Bridgestone Americas.

“Hence, it is vital to select the right tire for the job,” he adds. “Choosing the wrong tire can decrease effectiveness—not a desired outcome considering the investment fleets make to stay on the road. It is important to understand where a vehicle is going to spend most of its time, the application type, and the performance attributes that are most important to a fleet’s business.”

For waste applications, Bridgestone focuses on the cost-benefit of retreading, offering tires that are designed with optimal retreadability, longer wear, stronger durability, and traction, says Nayakwadi.

Expect to spend anywhere from $3,500 to $4,000 in US dollars for a set of tires depending on the machine on which they go, notes Derek Hird, owner of Evolution Wheel.

Historically, tires have been one of the top single item expenditures for fleets outside of fuel, notes Tom Clauer, Yokohama Tire manager of commercial and OTR planning, adding, “This is why it’s extremely important to make sure you are using the correct products the application demands and that the tires are maintained properly and frequently.”

In considering the financial investment that should be made for tires, the real issue is the total cost of ownership, points out Seth Walters, vice president of aftermarket sales (East), Alliance Tire Americas.

“Sometimes the most appropriate tire requires a bit more investment up front, such as buying a radial tire instead of a bias-ply one or a solid instead of a foam-filled pneumatic,” he adds. “But when you look at how much longer that tire lasts or how much fuel you save because it’s a radial instead of a bias tire, the cost per hour of operating that tire can be significantly less.”

Add in downtime costs “from flats from a solid tire in a high-hazard environment or the reduced maintenance on a machine running on radials that aren’t getting jolted and pounded all day long and you can start to see even greater benefits.”

When it comes to heavy equipment—loaders, dozers, or backhoes—or skid steers in a waste handling environment, three major factors to consider when choosing a tire include surface, hazards, and distance the machine will travel, notes Walters.

“If you’re working on a surface like dirt or mud, you’ll want a traction tread with bars or aggressive cleat-like lugs,” notes Walters. “That will keep your machine productive and fuel-efficient. You won’t be spinning your wheels trying to get a grip.”

On smooth, abrasive surface like concrete, those traction lugs will wear down and heat up too quickly, he adds.

“In those conditions, you’d be a lot better off with a smooth tire or a block lug pattern with a high rubber-to-void ratio, which wears a lot longer on surfaces that could otherwise scrub the lugs off a more aggressive tire,” says Walters.

Hazards are an “obvious concern” in waste handling environments, he adds.

“A paper recycling facility is probably pretty low in puncture hazards, while a scrap metal yard is a graveyard for tires,” says Walters. “Pneumatic tires are great where puncture hazards are minimal. Some users will fill pneumatic tires with foam, which means they won’t end up with flats.”

Where punctures are likely, solid tires are the best bet, says Walters.

“Not only is it impossible for a solid tire to go flat, but those solids are also constructed with more durable compounds so they last significantly longer than conventional tires,” he adds. “That can make solids an outstanding investment.”

In situations where equipment will travel more than a few yards at a time and puncture hazards are not extreme, radial tires can be significantly better for performance and return on investment than conventional bias-ply tires, says Walters.

“Radials have a more flexible sidewall, which creates a larger, more evenly distributed footprint,” he adds. “That footprint is more efficient at transferring horsepower to the ground. It improves traction, reduces rolling resistance, and improves fuel efficiency.

“The sidewalls act like a shock absorber, which reduces wear on equipment. And because the tire doesn’t heat up as much as a bias-ply tire when it is rolling, it lasts longer. The result is an overall lower total cost of ownership from radial tires on machines that are on the move.”

Tires for use in waste applications have specific requirements in their design, notes Clauer. “They need to be durable to withstand the abuse in recycling facilities, landfill yards, and transfer stations,” he says. “They also need to be resistant to high scrub, which they experience in urban pickup routes. Slow speeds, stopping—brakes produce heat—and constant turning are abrasive on tires and add to that the amount of weight they need to carry require additional design features.”

The most popular sizes for fleet has been a Yokohama 315/80R22.5, notes Clauer, adding that a majority of fleets require a 10,000-pound capacity for these tires.

“In order to accomplish this, manufacturers lower the maximum speed to 65 miles per hour to help reduce heat buildup,” he says.

Clauer points out that the main tires used in waste applications are all position designs, meaning they can be used in steer, drive, lift, and trailer positions, and need to be able to perform adequately in all these positions.

“Traction in dry and wet conditions is essential,” he adds. “However, fleets have other options if they need more traction if the equipment is required to have more traction in drive position due to inclement weather or difficult road conditions. Most fleets opt to retread in this situation.”

Retreadability is highly desired “as these products have one of the lowest tread life cycles of all applications. Casing durability is crucial in the retread process and controlling tire expenses,” says Clauer, adding that Yokohama offers that with all of its waste industry products.

Evolution Wheel designs tires for severe applications, with one tire designed specifically for the solid waste industry being the EWRS-HS series of non-pneumatic tires, notes Hird.

It is designed for severe duty work on a daily basis on hard surfaces that are as equally harsh on tires, he adds.

“HS stands for ‘hard surface.’ These tires are running in waste transfer stations and recycling facilities—places where end users are on concrete all day long and we’re seeing on average about 1,000 hours on a set of tires and that’s to zero tread—the time to replace,” says Hird.

The tread design increases surface area in contact with the ground—such as concrete and asphalt surfaces—with 30 to 40% increase in wear life over the previous series.

The tire is designed with a 52/32nd tread depth. It has serviceable sections that eliminate the need for a service truck, specialized technicians, and press on machines.

“Service tooling has been reduced down to a 3/4-inch wrench in the back pocket of the operator and repair parts are readily available at the nearest onsite storage container or in the toolbox of the pickup,” notes Hird.

A premium compound is one factor to consider when selecting a tire, says Hird.

“Look for a tire that’s made of a compound that’s high in natural rubber,” he says. “Not just any rubber, but a premium-grade natural rubber with high-grade carbon black for the most wear life.”

Lower-grade natural rubbers will be susceptible to chunking, says Hird. For cold weather, look for a tire that has stress crack resistance that is offered through proper additives, he advises.

On the other hand, “heat is an issue for any tire when the tire heats up and the heat is held within the rubber,” he says. “It can’t disperse the heat, so it reduces the wear properties of the compound. Heat is one of those things where you’re going to have higher wear just because you can’t build a rubber compound to do everything. You have to pick a range of operating temperatures.

“Natural rubber is what companies use because it has a wide operating temperature. You can use it in cold weather and in hot weather, but you have to pick something that works in that entire range.”

Evolution Wheel considered the abrasive nature of a landfill and transfer station when designing its tires with high abrasion resistance, says Hird, adding that premium compounding gets longer wear life.

“Look for a tire that has long wear life and can handle being on concrete all day long,” says Hird. “A lot of tires will be pretty stiff. They don’t have a lot of cushion or a lot of grab.”

Nayakwadi notes that Bridgestone M860A all-position tire, Bandag BRM3, and BDM2 retreads “are widely used by some of the leading waste fleets that, when combined, can deliver a cost-effective solution and long-lasting performance in this demanding application.”

Bridgestone M860A is a high-scrub all-position radial tire for short-haul applications such as urban waste collection, notes Nayakwadi. “These tires are engineered for high-load capacity, long-wear performance, and enhanced retreadability.”

One feature of the tire is a long-lasting tread design to spread the load over a larger area, distributing footprint pressure for long tread life. Another is a wide casing design which supports heavy loads up to 20,000 pounds on steer axles at highway speeds.

A special cap compound offers improved wear performance, designed to lead to longer original tread life. A wider fourth belt is designed to improve puncture resistance and extend casing life to enhance retreadability.

Sidewall protector ribs are designed to fight curbing and abrasion damage to help enhance casing durability. The reinforced bead of 2-ply nylon plus a steel chafer is designed to help strengthen the bead area for optimal tire life and retreadability.

The Bandag BRM3 is a mixed service all-position retread, designed to improve wear life and durability over its predecessor Bandag BRM2 tread product. It is designed to provide more performance for refuse operations with improved wet traction.

Other key features of the retread include a high-scrub resistant compound designed for long service life and a robust shoulder design to help resist damage caused by frequent twisting and turning often found in refuse applications, notes Nayakwadi.

The high center void is designed to enhance stopping traction on wet roads. The tire also features shoulder sipes to contribute to a strong grip on wet roads.

The Bandag BDM2 retread is a next-generation drive pattern designed specifically for the rigors of the waste application, says Nayakwadi.

“Advanced directional tread design with longer lugs and obtuse angles enhances traction and durability in demanding applications,” adds Nayakwadi. “The new design—combined with Bandag’s tread compounds—delivers long tread wear that makes it a great choice for on-road/off-road mixed-service haulers.”

With respect to truck wheels, Brian E. Thomas, spokesperson for Arconic Wheel and Transportation Products, points out that fleets, municipalities, and drivers that have made the switch from steel to aluminum truck wheels have done so for the advantages offered.

Aluminum wheels are forged from a one-piece ingot to align the metal grain structure, designed to result in a strong finished wheel, he says, adding that they are generally lighter than steel wheels, which improves freight efficiency and fuel economy.

Case in point: Alcoa Ultra ONE Wheels with MagnaForce alloy are designed to be 40% lighter than comparable steel wheels and can save up to 1,400 pounds on an 18-wheeler, Thomas says.

“For fleets concerned with weighing out before their rig is full of freight, these additional weight savings can really add up in hauling more and making more revenue per haul,” he adds.

Aluminum wheels also are designed to provide a better mounting surface to improve torque retention, notes Thomas.

“In harsh environments like stop-and-go routes, wheel retention is a serious safety and maintenance problem,” he points out. “Since aluminum wheels are not painted, the mounting surface is more reliable and consistent. The buildup and cycling of heat from stop-and-go along with unkept mounting surfaces matched with poor preventative maintenance is the main cause of wheel-offs from steel wheels.”

Several aluminum wheel manufacturers also provide proprietary wheel surface options that further reduce maintenance efforts and costs, notes Thomas.

Alcoa Dura-Bright Wheels provides a surface treatment that never requires polishing and washes up easily with just mild soap and water, says Thomas.

“Maintenance savings quickly add up and pay for the upgrade cost within a year or two of use while optimizing the full life cycle of the vehicle,” he adds.

Aluminum wheels improve resale value at vehicle turn-in, Thomas notes.

“Based on third-party National Automobile Dealers Association findings, Alcoa aluminum wheels return up to 75% of their purchase price up to 10 years into ownership of the vehicle,” says Thomas. “That way, drivers and owners enjoy the benefits of aluminum wheels over the life of the vehicle and then capture most of the purchase price as trade-in value of the vehicle at their end-of-use cycle.”

Meanwhile, keeping the wheels safe encompasses tight wheel nuts, among several other factors.

“Losing a wheel happens way more than most people know,” says Stefni Cox-Walters, of Wheel-Check, adding that statistics show that there are almost three incidents a day “and some of those turn into fatalities. Any type of added safety is of benefit to ­anyone’s fleet.”

Wheel-Check makes a loose wheel nut indicator device enabling operators to visually spot a problem.

“Drivers are supposed to physically touch all of the wheel nuts and if they don’t, they aren’t getting checked,” she remarks. “This device gives a visual indication that one of the wheel nuts has come out of sequence.”

The device goes on every wheel nut in a uniform pattern pointing clockwise and forming a circle, so when one comes out of sequence, it’s noticeable, says Cox-Walters.

“That’s indicating that there’s some issue with the wheel and they need to go into maintenance,” she adds.

The indicators are designed to withstand a range of temperatures and road ­conditions, she adds.

Once a tire has performed to the end of its useful service life, what’s next?

If it goes into the landfill, it can surface again and become a problem as a host for mosquitos. To mitigate that, the Tire Service Equipment Manufacturing Company makes a machine that destroys them and keeps them from doing so, notes company owner Wes Sprunk.