Truck test reveals ‘green’ tyres cut fuel bill by 8.5%02 December 2013

A truck test has revealed that using 'green' tyres instead of D-rated tyres saves 8.5% on fuel, equating to a saving of £1.3 million per year for a fleet of 300 trucks, and a CO2 reduction of 3,000 tonnes per year.

That's the key finding of a trial, carried out by synthetic rubber manufacturer LANXESS and chemical logistics business TALKE, and independently verified by TÜV Rheinland.

Two identical 40-tonne trucks from the logistics provider TALKE drove the same 400-mile round trip from Germany to France and back 30 times, between August and October.

Driver, loaded weight and refuelling procedures were always identical for both trucks. Over the duration of the trial, the two trucks covered a total distance of 25,000 miles.

To ensure that the test vehicles had the same fuel consumption, both trucks started off using identical 'green' tyres with a B rating on the EU label.

Halfway through the test, one vehicle was fitted with standard, D-rated tyres. The result: the truck using B-rated tyres used 25.4 litres of fuel per 62 miles – 2.36 litres less than its counterpart on D-rated tyres.

This is equivalent to a saving of 8.5% of fuel. The vehicle on B-rated tyres also emitted approximately 700kg less CO2 per 6,000 miles.

The trial was held to mark the first anniversary of compulsory tyre labelling within the EU.

"We have proved in this test that quality tyres with optimised rolling resistance provide large potential savings for commercial vehicles," says Christoph Kalla of LANXESS.

"Not only are 'green' tyres exceptionally effective at lowering operating costs, they also make a key contribution to protecting the environment."

Alfred Talke, group managing director of the TALKE Group, adds: "For us, professional fleet management has long included using tyres optimised in terms of their rolling resistance to make fleet operation more efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly.

"The tyre test carried out in collaboration with LANXESS has once again impressively demonstrated to us just how much we have already managed to save in the past few years."

Author
Laura Cork

Related Companies
Lanxess Ltd

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