“More Payload & Lower Operating Costs” with New Goodyear Trailer Tyre
26th October 2017
Goodyear, in conjunction with leading lightweight trailer manufacturer Berger, has developed new trailer tyres that maximize payloads for fleet operators.
With a 10-tonne axle weight capacity and low rolling radius, the Goodyear FUELMAX T 435/50R19.5 HL 164K has been developed to increase weight capacity for tandem axle mega trailers. The other great benefit comes from taking advantage of reduced road tax for operators in countries such as Germany and Switzerland, where four-axle combinations pay less duty than five axle vehicles.
Compared with a typical five-axle 40-tonne combination using a 27-tonne tri-axle bogie, a fleet operating a four-axle 38-tonne combination featuring a BERGERecotrail® trailer with a 20-tonne tandem bogie can save 2,160 Euro per year in German road tax costs* alone. Plus, the truck has 25 tonnes of payload available (a BERGERecotrail® tandem lightweight mega trailer weighs only 4.7 tonnes).
The High Load Goodyear FUELMAX T 435/50R19.5 HL 164K has been developed in conjunction with Berger Fahrzeugtechnik GesmbH and is the first premium truck tyre to be available in this size and load index. Goodyear has a long relationship with the Austrian trailer manufacturer, which will be the first OEM to receive it.
The concept for the new tyre goes back to 2015. This was when operators were starting to see the financial advantage of using a two-axle trailer instead of a three-axle trailer. The main benefit being the cheaper road tax in Germany: where using a four-axle combination is 1.8 cents/km cheaper in tax than a five-axle combination. In addition, the operational costs are lower on a tandem axle trailer versus a tri-axle trailer as there are fewer brakes and less tyres. However, to maximize the payload of a tandem trailer, these operators wanted 10-tonne axles instead of standard 9-tonne axles. This concept was especially appealing for many mega trailer operators as volume is more important to their business than weight.