Advocating tyre safety, Kit Loong Commercial Tyre  makes compelling arguments why tyre management to ensure  safety is also a money-maker.

This article was first published in Asian Trucker Issue 78.

The performance of a tyre is certainly important for the operator. However, as a truck oftentimes carries heavy loads, the safety of the vehicle is of utmost importance. While all components play a role, Kenneth Teh, Managing Director, Kit Loong Commercial Tyre, would attribute about 50 percent of what makes a truck a safe vehicle to the tyres. In our exclusive interview he is talking about the many facets of tyre safety.

To fully understand the subject of tyre safety, one would have to discuss how a tyre works. In essence, it is a tube filled with a gas. Modern tyres are tubeless; however, the construction of the tyre makes the tyre itself the tube that holds the gas. Further, it is not the rubber that carries the vehicle but the pressure within the tube. The tyre has the contact with the road, but ultimately, it is the gas, at a sufficient pressure, that carries the weight of the vehicle.

Historically, Bias tyres were used on trucks. Because of the design of such tyres, they had to be very strong, using a lot of rubber. “Back in the days, trucks would not travel as far and not as fast,” Teh said. According to him, this is the starting point for any discussion about tyre safety. He explained that most safety related issues around tyres stem from the notion that heat is the biggest enemy of tyres. With  trucks going longer distances at higher speeds, the tyres are heating up more, and the rubber compounds will need to have heat dissipating properties. “What we can also observe is that decades ago, it was easier to attract qualified staff for workshops. With the  availability of labour, it was easier to schedule and carry out more frequent tyre management activities.” Tyres overheating is the most likely cause of tyre failures in the form oftyres bursting.

The introduction of radial tyres has addressed the issue of heat build-up in tyres. Unlike Bias tyres, radial tyres comprise a layer of steel wiring that provides stability and heat dissipation. Thanks to that, radial tyres can be constructed with thinner sidewalls, which in turn helps reducing the heat build up. In a radial tyre, the sidewalls are more flexible, thus they make the ride comfortable as they deform when driving over uneven grounds. Adding to that are modern rubber compounds, specifically developed to meet the needs of climatic conditions in the various regions around the world. “Today, only very few operators continue to use Bias tyres.”

Specifically designed for urban use, tyres are designed for specific purposes. Further classifying trucks, for delivery trucks the main criteria relating to the tyre is the extreme start & stop. Tyres hitting the curb is the concern for radial tyres in this environment, hence proper urban use truck tyre have an extra layer of rubber to protect the casing and for running against the curve . This is to protect the carcass from damages. The carcass needs to be protected as it is required for the retreading process. This type of tyre cannot be used for high speed, long distance as the heat build-up is tremendous. Hence it has a low-speed limit, and the heat will wear the tread fast or when overheating, it has an increased threat of bursting

In contrast, on-highway trucks usually go long distance and at constant speed. When designing such tyres, it should be specific for each country. The road design for highways varies and one should use the best road within each country as a benchmark by comparing itself within the country. Hence the casings for tyres used in this application are built with low heat build-up and fast heat dispersing objective, to minimise the rate of tread wear.

Faced with a lot of options to pick from, operators may want to ascertain that the tyres they are using are indeed safe to use. In Malaysia, certification is required for tyres and only those that have passed rigorous testing and the certification process are to be used. “What buyers should remember is that this means that a certified tyre is safe to use. If the tyres last is a different matter as that depends on how well the tyres are being managed.” Again, Teh points out that the most important activity in tyre management is to maintain the correct tyre pressure to ensure the safety of the tyre.

A common topic in connection with tyre safety is the question if winter tyres could be used in our climates. In theory, one could as the fundamental principle of the tyre still applies: the pressure takes the load. However, as the compound is specifically designed to match the climatic conditions, a winter tyre will wear out rapidly here. Although they would be safe, the use of such tyres is not economically sound. A myth that Teh would like to address is that retread tyres are unsafe. He invites  anyone to their production to show how tyre retreading is being done, which will demonstrate that a retread is just as good as a new tyre. Again, he stressed that it is the wrong handling that will make any tyre unsafe, new or retreaded.

In the unfortunate event of a tyre being punctured by an object, e.g. nail, screw, it is important to handle such incident correctly. Firstly, a vehicle experiencing such incident should be brought to a halt immediately (in a safe manner) and not be driven any further. Sometimes, a puncture results in a slow deflation of the tyre. It is the skills and experience of the driver that would help to identify such issue when it happens. Following this, the vehicle should be towed to a qualified workshop and repaired using specially developed repair kits. As Teh explains, a puncture may lead to humidity   penetrating a tyre, causing the inside of the tyre to corrode and thus become unsafe. “It is important that the driver stops the vehicle following a puncture. Continuing to drive with a deflated tyre will severely damage it.”

In the context of tyre safety, wheel  lignment and balancing are subjects that needs to be touched upon.
Misaligned wheels can become a safety hazard in emergency breaking situations as the vehicle will not steer in the intended direction. Unbalanced wheels will put unnecessary stress on connected parts which, over time, may get damaged and thus increase the risk of accidents. However, uneven tread depths between tyres on one axle are not so much of a safety issue. What will happen is that the tyre with more tread depths will wear out faster.

In simple terms, maintaining the correct tyre pressure is the best way to ensure tyre safety. Visual inspections are a good first step, however, any issue identified needs to be actioned upon immediately, otherwise it is no point to have said check. Depending on the construction and brand of the tyre, the pressure should be checked regularly; some tyres should be checked weekly, others on a monthly basis. However, it should always be the cornerstone of tyre management. To that extend, tyre pressure monitoring systems could be deployed. These are, as Teh pointed out, very useful tools to manage tyres, however, they are expensive to purchase and maintain.

“Who should ultimately be responsible for the safety of the tyres? In my opinion it is the company,” he said. In a top-down manner, the proper and correct tyre management procedures need to be instilled from the workshop staff to the driver. Even when appointing third party, outside workshops, it is still down to the responsibility of the company’s management to ensure that the SOPs to ensure tyre safety will be followed, if not exceeded. Ultimately, as Teh points out, tyre safety is congruent with the ambition of any company’s goal to make money. A well maintained tyre is ot just safe, it is also one that performs longer, thus reducing cost. “Even if you do not label it safety, looking after your tyres to make sure you can run them as long as possible is the ultimate way to ensure that they are safe too.”