Yokohama to display fuel-efficient tires at MATS

March 14, 2013

Yokohama Tire Corp. will display its full line of Zenvironment tires at the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS), booth No. 14124, in Louisville, Ky., March 21-23, 2013. The fuel-efficient, low rolling resistance Zenvironment line-up includes the 703ZL, 103ZR, 501ZA and 101ZL. 

“The Zenvironment line represents Yokohama’s best truck tire technology,” says Rick Phillips, Yokohama’s director of commercial sales. “It reflects our philosophy of using ultra-high technology to make truck tires that will last longer and be more fuel-efficient. The Zenvironment focuses on four components:  the casing design, rubber compound, tread design and manufacturing process.”

Within the casing design, for example, Yokohama uses ‘finite element analysis’ where engineers divide the tire into several thousand tiny individual sections or elements. Each element is analyzed under simulated operating conditions. The company says the process allows it to accurately predict physical changes the tire will undergo during its lifetime.

“By being able to predict these changes we can reduce the strain to the casing from normal stress or applied force. The result is cooler operating temperatures and greater casing life and retreadability,” says Phillips.

“After fuel, tires are one of the major contributors to a trucking company’s operating expense. Tires that last longer and are fuel efficient will help cut costs, and that’s where our Zenvironment tires excel.”

The 101ZL, 703ZL and 103ZR are on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay list of verified technologies for tires. Yokohama now has nine tires that are recognized as SmartWay low rolling resistance tires.

For more information, visit the company’s website.

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