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IT IS mostly privately owned transport operations that initiate new ‘tyre-smart’ ideas, says Nitralife SA’s MD, Rob Sowry, whose company provides an alternative tyre inflation medium in the form of nitrogen, writes Paul Collings. 

"Often, ‘publicly-owned’ transporters may not be early adopters of new tyre technology because of red tape inflexibility and the incessant drive from non ‘coal-face’ management to cut costs. An idea such as Nitrogen inflation of tyres has long since been proved to dramatically reduce tyre costs. Unfortunately, it is seen as a monthly ‘cost’ (on rental) and is thus eliminated by accountants." 

Retreading of truck tyres is generally very good in SA, and of a high standard, believes Sowry: "However, there is one weakness in a retread – it is dependant on the quality of the casing. An oxidised casing that has been running on wet air in its new or first-cap life is very vulnerable to a belt separation. This is because the bond between the steel-belt and the rubber surrounding it will have been oxidised by water vapour and/or hot oxygen migrating from air inflation. If the casing fails then the retread will have failed, even if the actual retreading bond between the casing and the new cap remains intact." 

A near-perfect casing to recap will make retreads more reliable with less downtime, says Sowry. "Inflating tyres with Nitrogen is an excellent way to preserve tyre casings. Nitrogen is completely dry, it is inert, it can not oxidise rubber, it is the slowest migrating gas through a tyre and it does not hold heat, so tyres will run cooler too."