Tire Shortage Getting Better, But Not Gone

Ken Kramer is strategic accounts manager for Michelin Commercial Sales. Michelin North America employs more than 22,300 and operates 19 major manufacturing plants in 17 locations.

The worldwide shortage of off-highway truck tires is the result of a “perfect storm” that no one could have predicted, says Ken Kramer, strategic accounts manager for Michelin Commercial Sales.

The international tire industry came into 2007 with plants working at about 90- to 95-percent efficiency, Kramer estimates. Plenty of production was available if demand for tires would have risen a modest 2 percent to 3 percent.

But when demand for tires increased 10.3 percent from 2005 to 2006 and another 14.5 percent between 2006 and 2007, the math was clear.

“You can’t squeeze 25 percent more capacity into a 5 percent window,” Kramer says.

What caused the demand spike? Higher prices for commodities—particularly coal, copper and gold—have put more off-highway trucks to work in the extraction industries. Booming economies in India, China and elsewhere need more and more tires. The military in Iraq and Afghanistan need tires for the war effort.

And producing more tires isn’t as simple as it sounds, Kramer says. Michelin’s Lexington, S.C., plant produces tires for the Caterpillar^® 797 Off-Highway Truck, which runs on six 14-foot tires with enough rubber to tread 500 passenger cars.

Even with the plant running 24-7, 365 days a year—as many tire manufacturing plants do—keeping up with demand is impossible. In some cases it takes more than a full day to produce just one tire, and Kramer estimates the current shortage will last until at least 2013.

Kramer offers several suggestions on how to make your tires last longer.

• Do your homework. Ride with your drivers to see where they have to slow down, where haul-road conditions are leading to problems.  Take the time to do a site survey.
• Monitor your roads. Cat’s^® Road Analysis Control (RAC) is an information product that monitors haul road conditions and improves large mining truck performance, productivity and safety—while lowering repair, maintenance costs and downtime. Integrated with the Vital Information Management System (VIMS®), RAC provides real-time feedback to the operator about haul road conditions and truck components—such as the powertrain, frame, suspension and tires.
• Monitor your tires while they’re working. Tire management software allows you to monitor tire-related components of fleets, rapidly identify problem areas and implement solutions.
• Retreading is an option, but not for everyone. Make sure it fits your application. If you’re working in tough conditions, retreading probably won’t work. But vehicles in most sand applications are good candidates for retreading.
• Use your motor grader. Think of that blade as part of production, not as support. It can save you money and time if properly applied to your roads.
• Watch your weight. Although the high cost of fuel has you pushing your weight limits even more these days, don’t go too far. You may get short-term benefits from overloading, but think of how much production time you’ll lose when you have a truck on the sidelines because you can’t get a tire
• Don’t mix and match. It’s not a good idea to run four different tire brands at the same time. Different tread depths, different widths and different flex points can lead to poor performance, tire damage and even damage to the truck or loader.

The key to getting more life out of your tires is simple, Kramer says. You have to work smarter—and harder.

“When times are bad, you have to work harder than when times are good,” he says.

Size matters on haul road gravel.

This material has been voluntarily provided by Ken Kramer (Michilin). Ken Kramer (Michilin) is not speaking on behalf of Caterpillar, and the views or opinions expressed in this material are those of Ken Kramer (Michilin) and may not represent the views of Caterpillar.