ECM’s relationship with Goodyear spans three decades and the tyres are developed and supplied as part of the FleetFirst service arrangement.
Unlike most other transport companies operating standard trailers, ECM’s custom-built car transporters require special tyres. These allow extra internal platform width and low chassis height to enable up to 11 cars to be carried in each trailer.
To keep within external width regulations and still have space for the vehicles being carried to pass inside the wheel arches, the trailer tyres must be narrow. Also, a 7,100kg axle load is essential and, to add to the special requirements, the proximity of wheel arches to the tyres leaves little space for heat dissipation.
So, five years ago, Goodyear’s engineers in Luxembourg produced a specific car transporter tyre for ECM – and this has now been upgraded to the new 2017 version.
The latest tyre is in size 295/60R22.5 152J and is a development of the Goodyear RHS II as a specific trailer tyre. It features an increased load/speed rating and a specific tread compound that provides cool running capability.
Field trials proved the trailer tyre’s ability to work well under car transporter trailer conditions and it is FRT (Free Rolling Tyre) marked as a result. Both this and the tyre that was developed earlier now form part of the Goodyear Dunlop truck tyre portfolio.
“Our partnership with Goodyear and its TruckForce service network goes back 30 years, helping us to keep ahead in a very competitive industry,” says Paul Rymer, ECM’s workshop manager.
“It has helped us maximise performance as well as bringing down our total cost of ownership – as a result, it gives me confidence that I can go into work on a Monday morning knowing that everything is fine.”