Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the BFGoodrich brand, Michelin North America Inc. has launched two new BFGoodrich medium truck tires, the Route Control S and the Route Control D. Both products target regional haul applications.
“Designed to take on the toughest regional and city routes, the BFGoodrich heritage continues for trucks used for less-than-truckload and last-mile delivery applications in the package and delivery, food and beverage and other same-day and next-day delivery segments,” say Michelin officials.
The regional haul/urban market is nearing the size of the long-haul segment, Adam Murphy, vice president of B2B marketing for Michelin, said today during a press conference to announce the tires. “The average length of haul has gone from around 800 miles to 400 miles. In a relatively flat overall market, deliveries of less than 50 miles are increasing” at an accelerated rate.
The BFGoodrich Route Control S, which is a SmartWay-verified steer/all-position tire, replaces the BFGoodrich ST 230.
The Route Control S has been engineered to provide long tread life and exceptional, even-wear performance. The tire features optimized microsiping technology, which Michelin says fights the onset of irregular wear across the tread, as well as zigzag, flow-through grooves, which provide outstanding water evacuation and grip.
It is available in sizes 11R22.5, 11R24.5, 275/80R22.5 and 285/75R24.5, with the 255/70R22.5 (Load Range H) size arriving in the third quarter.
The BFGoodrich Route Control D, which is a drive tire, “offers the traction and long-wearing tread necessary in regional applications. The tire has an open-shoulder, directional tread pattern to deliver maximum all-weather traction.”
The tire is available in sizes 11R22.5 and11R24.5 (Load Range H) and 275/80R22.5 (Load Range G). It is also available in urban size 245/70R19.5, with the popular 225/70R19.5 size arriving in the third quarter, in Load Range H.
On both tires, Michelin is offering a six-month road test guarantee for the first six months of use or before 50% of usable tread life. ”It’s essentially a six-month road test,” says Murphy.
Michelin also is offering a five-year/two-retread manufacturer’s limited casing guarantee.
“Since Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich purchased the Hudson River Rubber Company in 1869, BFGoodrich has been on the path of making many firsts in the tire industry,” says Murphy. “BFGoodrich was responsible for the first U.S.-built pneumatic tire and selected by Henry Ford as original equipment for the Model A. Now, 150 years later, we continue the legacy with this winning regional market offer.”
Both Route Control tires are now available in the United States and Canada.
BFGoodrich entered the radial truck tire market in 1996, according to Michelin.
