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Mounting and balancing Using the balancer to reduce customer comebacks MAKE SURE TECHNICIANS UTILIZE EQUIPMENT’S FULL CAPABILITIES

By Joy Kopcha

Road force balancing isn’t new. But two decades ago, many technicians didn’t want to dedicate the time to do it on every tire that needed balancing.

“For a long time, it took an extra 25 seconds,” says Greg Meyer, product manager for Hunter Engineering

Co.’s wheel balancers. “To a technician, 25 seconds feels like 25 minutes. Road force machines became comeback fixers.”

And this wasn’t an isolated occurrence. Meyer says the entire industry grew to accept that 10% of tire customers would come back complaining of vibrations and a rough ride on new replacement tires. “Maybe a good shop was 5%, but if you weren’t doing a good job, it might have been 20% of customers not satisfied with ride quality. For many years, our industry fixed them as they came back. Well, those days are over. A lot of times, people don’t come back.”

That’s why Hunter has focused development efforts on making its road force balancers function quickly and automatically. Lasers measure the wheel dimensions and runout and automatically check the wheel’s centering. Messages on the screen alert the technician to a possible bent wheel or mis-centered tire and guide them through the corrective process.

Meyer says it’s important for owners and store managers to establish a policy that every tire is road force-balanced. Machines can be set to automatically check road force on every balance, but if that automatic function isn’t enabled, technicians have the ability to turn it off and on as they want.

He says Hunter can’t “see” all of its machines at work, but

Meyer estimates 30% to 40% of the company’s Road Force Elite balancers are set to use the load roller for road force with every use. About half of technicians use it most of the time, he notes.

“If you have 98% to 99% (of customers) that are happy with your work, then that continues to grow your business, and that pays dividends over time because you’re not losing customers.

In the internet world, if one unhappy customer goes online and complains about how he went back to the shop twice and the car still vibrates, that can set you back for months.”

Even with well-manufactured aluminum wheels, Meyer says seemingly small improvements in road force can provide a big improvement in comfort. A well-made aluminum wheel may only have 0.002 of an inch of runout. Moving a stiff point in a tire from the high spot to the low point of the wheel “might get four or five pounds of road force reduction, even with only 0.002 of an inch of runout.” Considering the normal limit for road force for passenger cars is 20 pounds, that’s a significant reduction.

Combining proper mounting methods and forced matching,

Meyer says 98% of the tires and wheels that leave a tire dealership

Lasers on the Road Force Elite measure wheel dimensions and runout and also check the centering, all of which are important factors in maximizing ride comfort and the benefits of road force balancing. Sometimes, Hunter’s Greg Meyer says the best solution to a slight vibration coming from a single tire might be to move that tire to the rear axle.

will be in good shape. “You may have one percent or two percent that you have to do something with. Maybe the tire isn’t okay or the rim is bent. But you’re dealing with a fraction of a fraction now, as opposed to 10% or more.”

Dealers should also recognize there are times where road force measurements above the standard set by an original equipment manufacturer are acceptable. A 1987 pickup truck that’s used on the farm is an example. If the road force is 24 pounds, it’s probably alright. If it measures 55 pounds, it probably needs to be addressed. “That’s good business,” says Meyer. “Don’t throw good money after bad. Time is money.”

That’s a practical message that resonates with Dave Shedlock, director of national accounts for BendPak Inc., the maker of the Ranger line of balancers and tire equipment. Shedlock says it’s good to remember that proper balancing doesn’t require road force.

“We believe that the two major components of accurate balancing are proper centering and proper torqueing. Using the proper adapters on any brand of balancer will most often yield the desired results. Collets, truck cone kits and flange plates are all essential balancing components for any wheel balancer.

“Bottom line, road force balancing is likely not for every customer,” says Shedlock. “While it is overkill for many customers, it is also a very useful tool for extreme low-profile tires or to resolve persistent vibration problems.

“Even the most sophisticated balancers cannot eliminate vibrations from a bent wheel or an out-of-round or irregularly worn tire.” ■

Post-COVID-19 rebound TOP EXECS DISCUSS RISING DEMAND, NEW TIRE BUYING HABITS

By Mike Manges

When will demand for tires rebound? Which segments will bounce back sooner? How has COVID-19 changed consumer tire buying habits? Top executives at various tire companies recently shared their thoughts with MTD. (Check out the COVID-19 Resource Center on www.moderntiredealer.com for full-length interviews.)

JOHN HAGAN Nexen Tire America Inc. ROY BROMFIELD Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.

“We truly believe there is a lot of pent-up demand, so we just have to ride through the storm and be prepared for when it’s over and things improve,” says John Hagan, Nexen Tire America Inc.’s executive vice president of sales. “In June, you’ll see more improvement. In July, you’ll see even more improvement. And I think by the August or September time frame, you’ll see what I call respectable numbers.”

“Prepare for an emergence from this crisis,” Roy Brom eld, president and CEO of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp., tells dealers. “It will come.”

YONGSIK SHIN Kumho Tire BILL CALDWELL Continental Tire the Americas LLC BRANDON ARVIND PODDAR

STOTSENBURG Balkrishna

American Kenda Industries Ltd.

Rubber Co. Ltd.

Bromfield says dealers need to be “positioned for success when the market returns to normal and perhaps for even a surge in business to meet pent-up demand.”

Yongsik Shin, the head of Kumho Tire’s Americas region, says the North American consumer tire replacement segment could normalize within a few months. Buyer preferences will shi , too, he adds.

“Buyers who were once accustomed to upper-tier brands will look to more products” in lower tiers.

“Consumers are treating their cash preciously now — no different than

T.J. HIGGINS Bridgestone Corp. OWEN SCHIANO American Tire Distributors Inc.

companies — so we’re seeing a certain (trend toward) lower price points,” says Bill Caldwell, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Continental Tire the Americas LLC. “We’re certainly seeing less headwind with our General brand, which is a step lower in price point than our premium Continental brand.”

Brandon Stotsenburg, vice president of American Kenda Rubber Co. Ltd.’s automotive division, believes that “value-based passenger and light truck will recover faster than other segments. In the near-term, it may be more practical for people to drive to destinations rather than take planes, and the independent tire dealer will be in a prime position to bene t from this.” The impact of COVID-19 on OTR and farm tire demand was “comparatively less than in the passenger and light truck tire markets,” says Arvind Poddar, chairman and managing director of Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT.) “We are blessed to have our own mold-making factory. We

MANNY CICERO Triangle Tire USA

RICHARD SMALLWOOD Sumitomo Rubber North America

roll out 60 to 70 new products every year, in most segments of OTR tires, and will continue to do so.”

T.J Higgins, global chief business strategic o cer for Bridgestone Corp., told MTD that the unique dynamics of the COVID-19 crisis have changed how some customers are buying tires. “We’re seeing more e-commerce activity — certainly more than we’ve seen in the past as a percentage of sales. I don’t know if it will sustain in the future, but we have to continue to update

ERIK OLSEN TBC Corp. CLIF ARMSTRONG Marangoni Tread North America

our capabilities to handle those transactions that customers would like to have.”

In early-May, Owen Schiano, chief operating officer at American Tire Distributors Inc., told MTD he was “optimistic” that demand for tires will grow “over the next month or two months. Hopefully, as we enter the fall, we will start to return to what I call normalcy.

“More and more of our customers have fully booked and scheduled appointments. I’ve heard a lot of examples of (appointments) scheduled out even further than they have been historically.”

Manny Cicero, CEO or Triangle Tire USA, says that “if we use China as an example — and if we lag two or three months behind them, like we seem to

do — they were shut down in January and February” due to lock down orders. “And now things are seemingly back to normal. It would follow, then, that by mid-summer, we will be back to PIETRO BERARDI normal in the States, Pirelli Tire North America Inc. following the China curve.”

“I tend to be a contrarian when it comes to the concept of pent-up demand,” says Richard Smallwood, CEO and president of Sumitomo Rubber North America.

As governments relax stay-at-home orders, “there will be those consumers who have waited to replace their tires until they felt it was safer to do so and now will come back to buy tires.”

But with more than 40 million Americans out of work, the market “will most likely take a while to recover and it will take customers some time to feel comfortable spending money on anything right now — even tires.”

In the meantime, he maintains, flexibility will be critical. “We’re adapting our programs to make sure they help dealers during this transitional period. Things will get better.”

Erik Olsen, president and CEO of TBC Corp., believes it’s too early to pinpoint when the tire market will roar back to its previous level of strength. “What I do know is that at TBC, we are working toward what our ‘new normal’ will look like,” he says.

On the retread side of the industry, Clif Armstrong, CEO and president of Marangoni Tread North America, sees good things ahead. “Most people I talk to are very bullish about where they are. And they’re looking forward to things starting to loosen up. It won’t be an on-off switch. But it will come back at a pace that allows the market to plan for what the business climate will be.”

Pietro Berardi, CEO of Pirelli Tire North America Inc., says he has been impressed by how quickly dealers have adapted to changing business conditions. “We’ve seen our partners investing in online capabilities for consumer interaction, using this time to get associates up to speed” on training and “getting organized with new ideas, such as touchless service, and adapting to remote communication tools.” ■

TRUCKTIRE MARKET: MID-YEAR REPORT TIREMAKERS DISCUSS IMPACT OF COVID-19, WHEN RECOVERY WILL BEGIN

By Mike Manges

The U.S. truck tire market looked much different at the end of last year than it does now.

Through the end of 2019, 18.7 million medium truck tires had been shipped through the replacement channel, according to the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association. Class 8 and new trailer orders were on a downward trajectory, but numbers were still at respectable levels. And tonnage was increasing, albeit slightly.

Then, not too long later, COVID-19 hit. And to say that things have not been the same since is an understatement.

The impact of the pandemic’s economic shock manifested in a major way in April. The American Trucking Associations’s tonnage index plunged 12.2% that month — the largest monthly tonnage decline in 26 years.

Class 8 truck orders plummeted to an unprecedented level of just 4,000 units –and nearly 75% fewer orders than what was reported during April 2019.

According to ACT Research, which tracks trucking industry trends, trailer orders dropped on a year-over-year basis by 97% in April — 99% less than even one month prior.

Replacement truck tire shipments, which were up 10% in March, began to fall in April, as well. Through the middle of May, it is estimated that 7.8 million replacement medium truck tires had been shipped in the U.S.

All of these things have had an impact on truck tire manufacturers and marketers. But to what extent?

Also in CTD Truck tire service at the epicenter of COVID-19: Barnwell House of Tires

keeps NYC moving ............................28

Traction vs. flotation: How to

optimize each .....................................30 Commercially Viable ........................ 34

“As states start to reopen and people get back to work and manufacturing starts again, freight will increase,” says Dan Funkhouser, vice president, commercial sales, Yokohama Tire Corp. “Replacement demand will follow.”

Here’s what executives from those companies had to say as they take stock of the first half of 2020. (Their answers are listed in alphabetical order, according to last name.)

MTD: How did the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting government actions impact your commercial truck tire business in the U.S. and Canada? Manny Cicero, CEO, Triangle Tire USA:

Our commercial truck tire business was first severely impacted by the sudden imposition of countervailing duties in early-2019. The impact of COVID-19 on the overall trucking industry just worsened the situation.

Patrick Etheridge, director of sales, Prinx Chengshan Tire North America:

Fortunately, we are scheduled to launch

our Thailand factory in late May. The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t really impacted us here, but we do foresee a slower roll-out than anticipated. This is mainly due to reduced demand in the current market.

Dan Funkhouser, vice president, commercial sales, Yokohama Tire Corp.:

As states began to shut down in March and manufacturing plants were impacted, we worked extra-hard to ensure dealers, fleets and government facilities had product to keep their operations running. In April, there was a slowdown in purchasing as the impact of regulations were felt throughout the economy. As states are starting to reopen, there has been an uptick in business. However, there is still a cloud of uncertainty. But things appear to be headed in a positive direction.

Marshall Gillespie, manager, commercial and specialty products, Hercules

Tire: In mid-March, the Hercules commercial truck tire business experienced a slight dip in sales in North America, as expected. However, we started to see sales go back to forecasted levels in April and early May.

Michael Graber, vice president of

sales, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.: Like most others in the commercial tire industry, we experienced an unexpected decline in sales through the initial stage of the pandemic. However, the decline was slight in our case and we saw a normalizing of volume in the second half of April. We expect a strong rebound.

Bob Klimm, Sumitomo Rubber North

America (SRNA/Falken): April is when Falken started to see a downward impact on commercial tire sales. We were coming off an excellent first quarter and then we saw a noticeable reduction in our daily order volume at the beginning of April. The second half of the month was slightly better but still off our average daily order rate. Even with the minor disruption, we are optimistic about our commercial truck tire sales.

Marty Krcelic, executive vice presi

dent, TBC Corp (Sailun/Sumitomo): Our supply chain and logistics team continued to focus on supply and demand, as well as inventory levels. Current orders to our distribution centers continue to be onschedule and products continue to flow. All factory-direct orders are being processed and shipped. And we are experiencing increased demand.

“We anticipate recovery will happen sooner for the commercial TBR replacement segment than for the OE business,” says Chris Ripani, president of truck, bus and retread tires, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations.

Richard Li, global marketing director, international business, Zhongce

Rubber Group Co. Ltd. (Westlake): The pandemic forced the economy (to) idle and the situation reduced demand for commercial truck tires greatly. Meanwhile, no forecast shows that the economy will recover very fast, so most tire distributors have to clear their inventories.

Chris Ripani, president of truck, bus and retread tires, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations:

There has been an overall decline across all tire categories and segments due to the global pandemic. However, our commercial tire business, and retreads in particular, have been less impacted by the COVID-19 crisis as fleet customers continue to play a critical role in keeping essential goods and services moving during this time. As many states take steps to reopen, we are optimistic that we have reached the bottom of this crisis.

Brian Sheehey, vice president, marketing, Alliance Tires Americas Inc.

(Aeolus/Galaxy): Alliance experienced a mild first quarter of 2020, but April saw increased demand for (our) brands. Between warehouse inventory and containers on the water when our Alliance Tire Group manufacturing plants were briefly shut down by the COVID-19 emergency, we have been able to maintain a steady flow of truck tires to the marketplace.

Jinki Shin, sales management man

ager, Kumho Tire U.S.A. Corp.: The TBR business sector of Kumho has not been seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kumho has maintained stable sales volume in both March and April, compared to last year.

Walt Weller, senior vice president, China Manufacturers Alliance LLC

(Double Coin): It definitely had an impact but not as much as on the consumer tire side. Trucking and the commercial tire business were deemed essential, so there was some business being done.

Paul Williams, executive vice president of commercial vehicle tires, Americas region, Continental Tire the Americas

LLC: Continental has a large manufactur-

ing footprint in the U.S., which helped us mitigate any impact. Our plant in Mount Vernon, Ill., is Continental’s largest truck tire plant worldwide. The plant suspended production for a short period to give us time to implement additional protective measures for our employees and in-line with demand. OE business was on hold, as many (truck manufacturers) implemented production shutdowns. The plant has already resumed production and we don’t anticipate any impacts to stock or availability this year.

Rob Williams, vice president of commercial sales, Hankook Tire America

Corp.: The dealers’ main focus has been keeping their fleet customers up and running during this time. With many of our dealers’ businesses being impacted, we also felt the effects in April regarding our sales.

MTD: A number of tire manufacturers suspended production at their U.S.-based truck tire plants earlier this year due to COVID-19. Can you quantify expected shipment declines as a result of these actions?

Cicero (Triangle): We actually have not seen a dramatic decline in our truck tire business year-over-year, largely due to the negative impact in 2019 on overall volume. This year is holding steady and we do not expect further declines the remainder of the year.

Etheridge (Prinx): We cannot quantify that number. Being new to the market, we can only speculate, based on previous data. Given what information we have received, we do anticipate a slower 2020 than we forecasted, even when the market rebounds.

Funkhouser (Yokohama): The overall number of tires shipped will decrease. However, because replacement market demand and OE dropped as a result of the slowdown, we are confident that we’ll be able to meet customer demand throughout the remainder of the year.

Gillespie (Hercules): Fortunately, Hercules has not been significantly impacted by suspended production in the U.S nor have we seen a slowdown in shipments We pride ourselves on maintaining sufficient inventory due to ongoing communication and collaboration with our dealers.

Graber (Toyo): It would be difficult to speculate on the overall market decline

CEO POV Cooper’s Hughes provides his take on the truck tire market

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. President and CEO Brad Hughes provided the company’s perspective on the truck tire market during Cooper’s first quarter investor conference call.

“Overall, I think as we look at the TBR business, it’s still reasonably healthy and is an industry less affected, particularly in North America, than the light vehicle tire part of the industry so far, and it looks like it’s going to remain that way over the course of the year,” he said.

“People are using equipment, tractors and trailers right now. As we all know, those are some of the folks that are out on the front lines right now, continuing to do their jobs. And that is, to some degree, reflected in what we’re seeing in overall TBR demand.

“Clearly, OE is in a slightly different position than the replacement market,” he added. “But the replacement market, as we and others look at it, looks like it’s going to remain relatively healthy. Overall, we’re expecting still a relatively strong year for our TBR business.”

since Toyo imports all medium truck tire products from Japan. As far as Toyo volumes, we have had no suspension of production in our medium truck tire factory in Kuwana, Japan. The factory has continued to produce at capacity, which will allow us to support the replacement tire segment as demand increases.

Klimm (SRNA): We do not expect any shipment declines due to our temporary plant shutdown. We are in excellent shape as far as our inventory. In fact, we currently have a good supply of safety stock. We feel confident that we will be able to maintain our excellent fill rates as demand increases. We have the capacity and the production time line to stay on pace with the increase in business that we expect to see.

Krcelic (TBC): Our partnerships with suppliers remain strong as we continue to support one another and programs that have been implemented for business continuity purposes. Our distribution centers remain open for shipments and we are in close communication with all team members, diligently working to maintain the flow of product and maintain service levels.

Li (Zhongce): The shipment decline is mostly due to the reduction of demand, not the suspension of production. At the moment, we expect a 10% to 20% decline of shipments in 2020, but will amend according to the latest situation.

Ripani (Bridgestone): We know that shipments will be down for the year and the overall level of recovery will be dependent upon the safe and effective reopening of businesses at the market level. Our supply chain and product pipeline remain strong and we don’t anticipate any disruption to our ability to meet fleet customers’ needs now or in the future.

Sheehey (Alliance): Due to the COVID19 pandemic, we had to temporarily suspend production in our plants in India for a few weeks while our plant in Israel continued to operate at full capacity. Our Indian plants resumed production in late-April and we have inventory of tires across the U.S., so we do not expect any significant impact on our truck tire shipments the remainder of the year.

Shin (Kumho): At this stage, we are forecasting about a 10% to 12% decrease in the replacement market and about a 15% decrease in OE market sales.

Weller (CMA): It is hard to quantify the impact from plant shutdowns at this stage. It could be as much as 25% below prior year.

Williams (Continental): We are not anticipating any dramatic impact on truck tire shipments. The USTMA estimates that the replacement truck tire market will be down approximately 7% compared to last year and our production schedule has been in-line with demand. On the OE side, we expect a more significant decrease.

Williams (Hankook): Fortunately, we have not had a slowdown in production nor our supply chain pipeline as we are able to source products from our other plants across the globe. Our current inventory levels remain strong and we expect our supply to remain at levels to meet market demands.

U.S. replacement truck tire market share at mid-year

Brand

Bridgestone

Michelin

Goodyear

Yokohama

Firestone

Continental

Double Coin

Hankook

Roadmaster

Toyo

BFGoodrich

Hercules

Dynatrac

Falken

General

Sailun

Sumitomo

Dayton

Westlake

Aeolus

Gladiator

Kelly

Triangle

Uniroyal

Others *Based on an estimated 7.8 million units through May 15, 2020

Share

13.5% 13.5% 9.5% 8.5% 7.0% 6.0% 4.0% 3.0% 3.0% 3.0% 2.5% 2.5% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 1.5% 1.5% 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 6.0%

and when will demand in both channels start to rebound? What are you doing to prepare for this?

Cicero (Triangle): This is impossible to predict. If the U.S. follows the same lag period as China, then demand should start picking up in late-third quarter/early-fourth quarter. But there are too many variables to give an accurate forecast. Our factories have been running at near-full capacity since mid-February. We are well-situated to supply the U.S. market.

Etheridge (Prinx): We are seeing mixed results right now in different market segments and different parts of the country. The faster people can get comfortable getting back to their routines, the faster this rebounds. I am an optimist and believe we can get back on track by mid-third quarter of this year.

Funkhouser (Yokohama): I believe we hit bottom in April and the first part of May. We’ve certainly seen positive movement since that time. As states start to reopen and people get back to work and manufacturing starts again, freight will increase. Replacement demand will follow.

Gillespie (Hercules):. While we currently do not foresee a drop in demand, we’ve adopted more frequent communication with our dealers and team for vital decisions and continue to closely collaborate on strategies for the remainder of the year.

Graber (Toyo): Since Toyo does not supply OE tires in the commercial segment, I will speak to the replacement market. We expect demand to gradually increase and return to normal levels later in the year. The timing really depends on the success of the reopening efforts of the states. Toyo has maintained regular production of all medium truck tire products and will be ready for demand when it returns.

Klimm (SRNA): We believe we hit the bottom in April and that we will start to see replacement demand increase as more cities and states open back up and more businesses restore operations. We’re optimistic that the worst is behind us.

Marty Krcelic (TBC): At TBC, we are working towards what our “new normal” looks like. We have prepared for many scenarios to ensure we have the product our customers want, when and where they want it. As stay-at-home orders are lifted, I believe all segments of the tire market will bounce back.

Li (Zhongce): We are an overseas supplier, so it takes some time for us to ship tires from Thailand to the U.S. Therefore, we will increase our inventories in the U.S. for a quick response to increasing customer demand after the pandemic. When people return to work, they will need tires immediately but distributors might not have much in stock. We may offer 24-hour delivery service.

Ripani (Bridgestone): Certainly, it is difficult to assign a time line for this recovery. This is an unprecedented situation, and as we’ve all seen, this crisis is very fluid. That said, as many states begin to take steps to reopen, we are optimistic that we have reached the bottom of this crisis and that our business — and our customers’ businesses — will begin to rebound. We anticipate recovery will happen sooner for the commercial TBR replacement segment than for the OE business as segments like last-mile delivery, long-haul and waste have remained operational.

Sheehey (Alliance): We started to see replacement tire demand rebound in midto-late April, once the pandemic situation and resulting government actions became clearer. We expect to see measured growth in June. Prior to the Indian government’s restrictions that temporarily suspended manufacturing, Alliance’s four North American warehouses were stocked at 125% above normal seasonal capacity, so we have been able to continue supplying our customers.

Shin (Kumho): At Kumho, we expect that replacement tire demand will bottom out in June and then will start to rebound in early July. However, the OE market will not recover until the third quarter due to high inventory levels of Class 8 trucks. Kumho is building up inventory levels in preparation for future supply.

Weller (CMA): We anticipate that OE will not start to come back until year-end. We have prepared by making sure our warehouses have ample supply so when it does come back, we are positioned to support our customers.

Williams (Continental): On the OE side, we are cautiously optimistic that April was the lowest month. We hope demand continues to rebound, growing month over month through the end of the year. However, it is important to remember that the OE market overall is expected to be down 31% year over year. On the replacement side, the market is only anticipated to be down 7% overall, so we don’t expect to see a major rebound effect.

Williams (Hankook): OE demand reduction may have a transverse relation to replacement sales after a period of time. An example would be fleets keeping trucks longer. Thus, there would still be a demand for tires on these units as older units often (inflict) more wear and tear on tires. With the uncertain future, our goal is to work with dealers to ensure we can provide product at the right place to keep fleets moving. ■

Truck tire service during COVID-19 TRUCK TIRE SERVICE AT THE EPICENTER OF COVID-19 BARNWELL HOUSE OF TIRES KEEPS NEW YORK CITY MOVING

Mike Manges

Barnwell House of Tires Inc. operates throughout New York City — which has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

The Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based dealership is the exclusive truck tire and retread supplier to the New York

City Department of Sanitation, which is the largest municipal sanitation department in the world with more than 2,200 waste haul trucks.

Trash pick-up hasn’t stopped during the COVID-19 crisis,

Scott Weeden, Barnwell’s vice president of sales, told MTD.

Typically, the sanitation department orders 800 truck tires a month from Barnwell. In early April, the organization abruptly bumped its requirement to 1,500 tires.

“When they went to that, it caught us off-guard,” says Weeden.

Barnwell worked with its supplier to locate additional units.

“Once we get those first 1,500 units in there, we’ll see what they need to order moving forward,” Weeden said in early-May.

The dealership also supplies new tires and retreads to school bus fleets, some of which have been used to transport infected patients from hospitals to quarantine centers. “The bus drivers have to wear hazmat suits.”

Barnwell also counts several utility fleets among its customers.

“We’re doing fleet surveys to stop problems from happening after trucks leave the yard,” says Weeden. “One company is letting its drivers take trucks home every night, so that has made it kind of tough to check those vehicles.”

Barmwell wrestles with the human cost of COVID-19

COVID-19 has impacted Barnwell House of Tires in a personal way, says Scott Weeden, the dealership’s vice president of sales. “We had three people in our organization test positive for it and three have spouses who tested for it.”

Two of the company’s fleet customers “have had people die from it,” he told MTD in late-April. “One owner came down with it.”

The father of another fleet’s owner “was in the hospital on a ventilator. The hard thing about this is that (everyone) has been so focused on making things continue to happen that even when someone gets the virus and dies, there’s no grieving period. There are no funerals. It’s ‘we have to move on and get past it and keep the city going.’

“It’s been really, really trying,” he says. “I live in Brooklyn and the sirens haven’t stopped. It’s real.”

Barnwell House of Tires employees, like delivery driver Jose Herrera, are wearing personal protective equipment.

The pandemic has forced some of Barnwell’s utility customers to implement new practices. “They’re keeping one driver in one vehicle to stop the spread of the virus.”

Barnwell’s employees, including roadside service truck operators and delivery drivers, have changed the way they interact with customers.

“We’ve gone paperless,” says Weeden. “We don’t require signatures for pick-ups or deliveries. On road service calls, when we come out, we follow all the social distancing requirements. There’s no physical signature” after calls are completed.

Surprisingly, Barnwell is running fewer road service calls. “It has dropped off compared to what we’re used to. But every call is vital.”

Weeden says operating during the COVID-19 pandemic has made Barnwell a more nimble and efficient organization.

“You have to focus on your process, your inventories and your cash flow,” he notes. “We’re delivering into the most densely populated area of the country, while practicing social distancing. It’s been challenging, to say the least. But we’re becoming more efficient. Customers throughout our network can order a product today and we’ll have it delivered tomorrow.

“We’re also being smarter on what we’re ordering,” he continues. “Instead of having 40 units on the shelf we might only have 20. We’re being proactive with our customers — seeing what they need. We do a lot of tracking of tires. We’re working smarter.”

Barnwell was in a “strong position” before entering the crisis, he adds, “and when we come out of this, we’ll be an even stronger company.

“But nobody could have predicted the magnitude of the impact of the virus, especially in (the New York City) area. We’re doing what we can to keep everything moving as best as possible. ■

AG Tire Talk TRACTION VS. FLOTATION H OW TO O PT I M I Z E EAC H A N D U S E FLAT PLAT E TO M EAS U R E CO N TACT

Modern Tire Dealer has partnered with AG Tire Talk to provide answers to insightful questions that farm tire dealers have about farm tire technology. This is the next installment in our ongoing series, which is designed to help farm tire dealers better connect with their customers. A trending question, followed by an abridged version of the answers, will appear in our Commercial Tire Dealer section every other month. For complete answers, check out www.agtiretalk.com!

QUESTION: What is the difference between traction and flotation, how do you optimize each and how do you use flat plate as a measurement tool?

NICK PHILLIPPI, national product manager, Alliance Tire Americas Inc.: Traction and flotation can have a complicated relationship. Sometimes they work together and other times they can work against each other. Understanding both can help farmers make appropriate tire choices. From a tire engineering standpoint, traction, or tractive force, is the maximum amount of force that a tire can place against the surface for forward movement. Flotation is the ability of an object to remain on top

Optimum flotation is going to be very dependent on soil types and soil conditions. If you’re in sloppy, thin mud, wide tires can provide plenty of flotation to keep you on the surface, but that slick soil will offer very little traction. If you’re in heavy soil, where a shallower lug can gain traction but you want to minimize soil compaction and rutting, you want more moderately sized lugs and a really large footprint from wide flotation tires or very-high flexion (VF) tires.

Of course, in farming, you don’t get the same conditions every day. The problem is that many people select tires based on the most extreme conditions they may encounter, rather than according to more typical use scenarios. That can lead to inappropriate choices. For instance, an R-2 tire may be helpful for a week or so during a particularly wet midwestern spring, but it would wear too quickly, ride rough and tear up fields most of the year.

of a surface.

You have to think about the conditions you operate in over the course of a whole year. Do you want a rounded contact patch for digging into the soil — which is characteristic of a bias-ply tire — or the flatter, broader contact patch that you see with steel-belted radials? Think about what gets you through your soils, how much slip you can tolerate, how much compaction your soils can take, and what your tolerance is versus the cost of fuel, tires and maintenance.

DAVE PAULK, manager, field technical services, BKT USA, Inc.: Modern tractors are designed to transmit power from the engine to the ground. Transmitting that power requires moving traction to the soil surface. Traction determines how efficiently this power is used.

When the engine delivers too much power to the tires and friction to the soil is minimized, tires will spin. Most modern medium- to high-horsepower tractors need added ballast to minimize wheel slip and maximize traction. The weight is determined by the type of implements being used.

Traction can be impacted by air pressure, flotation, and the

In sloppy soil conditions, there can be such a thing as too much flotation and not enough traction. Oppositely, you also can have too much traction and inadequate flotation.

contact area with the soil. A greater contact area and less inflation pressure will generally increase traction.

Flotation tires are designed to deliver maximum traction while minimizing soil compaction. They have wider footprints to distribute the weight of the tractor, combine, cart, or implement over a wider area of soil. Flotation tires can roll over loose or wet soil and minimize damage by not creating deep ruts. They can be used in free rolling or drive wheel applications and can carry a large amount of weight. Increased flexion (IF) and VF technology have contributed to the versatility of flotation tires.

The flat plate measurement of a tire is the contact area of the tire to the soil in square inches. The greater the contact area of a tire’s footprint, the better the weight is distributed over the soil. Distributing the weight over a larger area reduces soil compaction and can increase traction. Row crop applications are limited to wider flat plate measurements by row width. If row width is not a concern, as in tillage or minimum tillage applications, a larger flat plate works well for traction.

By managing the footprint of the tire, a farmer can increase traction and lower fuel costs. Managing the power of the tractor ensures that the tractor is weighted correctly and horsepower is efficiently used. Managing ballast ensures the horsepower of the tractor is moved to the ground, where it has the greatest value and is most efficiently used. And managing tire inflation pressure means using the right amount of air for the weight of the tractors and implements in motion.

JIM ENYART, technical manager, CEAT Specialty Tires Inc.: Flotation is the ability to remain on or near the soil surface as you are moving across that surface. Flotation is directly related to the weight and the footprint of the tires that are carrying that weight. The larger the footprint, the better the flotation. And the lighter the weight, the better the flotation. When you are increasing the footprint and/or reducing weight carried, you are reducing the weight per square inch or down pressure.

Tire selection is key to maximizing footprint. Adding more tires, wider tires, larger-diameter tires, higher load-carrying capacity tires, higher aspect ratio tires or IF and VF tires can help achieve this goal. There are really no industry standards for comparing footprints. In general, using the flat plate or footprint calculations as a tool to increase flotation is quite easy. The larger the footprint, the better the flotation. Utilizing the footprint to increase traction is not so clear-cut. In some cases, the smaller the footprint, the better the traction — because you simply increase your weight per inch or per unit area.

The biggest problem is wanting to maximize traction to optimize efficiency while your minimizing compaction potential to keep from reducing crop yields. Flotation and traction are almost on a teeter-totter. As flotation increases, traction decreases due to reduced ground pressures. As flotation decreases, traction increases. These opposing effects are not so dramatic under low-torque applications but they can be quite extreme in hightorque situations.

HARM-HENDRIK LANGE, agriculture tires field engineer,

Continental Agriculture North America:

In farming applications, traction and flotation tires have different operational tasks, although they are partly used together in many cases. The best example is a large slurry tanker being pulled by a large tractor across a field.

What´s the main difference between traction and flotation tire applications? For creating traction, and to achieve the maximum footprint possible, it is often required to have the maximum number of lugs connected with the ground. But sometimes, maximum traction requires getting through a small layer of wet mud or loose surface material to grip the more solid soil layers below. This means that a little increase in tire pressure can, in certain cases, further increase the traction potential. But this always depends on the actual condition of the ground.

The main task of the flotation tire is to reduce rolling resistance for low pulling force at high loads, especially on deformable surfaces, like dry sand or wet soils. The pressure in flotation tires should not be much higher than the inflation pressure of tractor tires. Keep in mind that while a driven tire actively works against the “bulldozing effect” by rotating, a non-driven tire needs to be turned by outer forces. With deeper track depth and small tires, the “bulldozing effect” becomes more and more significant as the tire is pulled against the soil wave. This means small tires with higher inflation pressure levels waste much more energy to fight against the soil wave in front of the tire.

RICK HARRIS, regional sales manager, GRI Tires: Flotation is the tire’s ability to reduce the impact on field conditions, like soil compaction. Traction is the tire’s ability to accomplish work with fewer resources, such as fuel, labor, time and mechanical wear and tear.

Radial tire technology increases traction and flotation simultaneously, much like a drag slick at the start line. The tire’s sidewalls absorb the engine’s torque, allowing the tread to remain in full contact with the ground and produce optimal traction.

The flat plate provides the ability to evaluate the contact patch of the tread at recommended inflation pressures. A larger tread contact patch promotes increased traction and flotation. A greater surface area reduces the amount of equipment and cargo weight supported by each section of the contact patch, increasing flotation and mitigating soil compaction.

GREG GILLAND, business development and ag segment

manager, Maxam Tire International:

Traction is the term used to explain how a tire overcomes the friction between the surface of the rubber tire and the ground. Flotation is the ability of a tire to stay on the surface of soft ground, soil or snow without rutting or digging into the surface or ground, thus limiting the tire from overcoming the friction or providing traction.

In agricultural applications, tires are designed to deliver the optimal traction or flotation based on their size, load capability and compounding. In all cases, assuming the right tire size has been chosen, the key to delivering the best possible traction or force to overcome friction is the air pressure for a given load. When operating with a tractor in the field, the coefficient of traction is measured by the slip of the tires.

If you work in the field at higher road inflation pressures, you will likely experience higher tire slip and tires will float less, creating higher compaction. If you road a tractor at lower inflation pressure levels, you will have less slip but higher rolling resistance, which leads to faster tire wear and increased fuel consumption. The tires also will provide less comfort and lower lateral stability.

If you find that slip is too high or low, check your inflation levels and verify the load distribution from front to rear. Add or remove ballast, as required, and adjust the working depth of any towed implement.

DAVID GRADEN, operational market manager, agriculture, Michelin North America Inc.:

In sloppy soil conditions, there can be such a thing as too much flotation and not enough traction. On the other end of the spectrum, you can have too much traction and not enough flotation.

To achieve the best of both traction and flotation, I would recommend an IF or VF tire, with astandard R1W lug, at the proper recommended air pressure. If your machine weight distribution and air pressures are set properly, there is little that can stand in your way of getting the job done.

To take it a step further, you could also use gross flat plate as a tool to determine which tire is best for you. Gross flat plate, or contact patch, is basically defined as the footprint a tire puts on the ground.

When measuring gross flat plat for standard radial tires, the footprint area is measured at maximum load and pressure for a 20 mile-per-hour application. When measuring gross flat plate for IF/VF tires, however, calculate for the tire’s maximum speed schedule at maximum load and corresponding air pressure.

Gross flat plate is not linear, which means the measurement at max load and pressure will not be the same at operating conditions. As you go down in pressure and load, the increase in gross flat plat is exponential. Depending on the size and volume of the tire, the growth from max load and pressure to least load and pressure could be up to a 30+% difference. SCOTT SLOAN, ag product manager, Titan International, Inc.: Traction is the force that causes a moving thing to stick against the surface it is moving along. Lack of traction can cause excessive tire to slip, which equates to poor fuel efficiency and loss of productivity. This can be corrected in a number of different ways — the first being that the tractors total weight is properly ballasted to the amount of horsepower. Typically, 100 pounds to 120 pounds per rated horsepower is the appropriate target. The correct weight will utilize the tractive efficiency of the tires in order to transmit the power properly to the ground.

To gain more floatation, minimize the ground bearing pressures to increase the buoyancy or floatation of the machine. The heavier the machine, the more ground contact area is needed to carry that load.

The trick comes with balancing both traction and flotation. Understanding the give-and-take between traction and floatation gives growers a chance to choose the best fitment for their machines.

One method used to balancing traction with flotation is to dual or even triple tires on equipment. However, as with any dual or triple configuration, depending on the soil conditions, this will result in rutting or loose soil being pinched, and a berm will be created between the tires.

Another method that has been gaining popularity is to replace duals with super singles. This immediately reduces the rutting in the field. It also narrows up the machine, making it easier to maneuver in tight areas. ■

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