Bridgestone Americas Inc. has joined the Cummins-Peterbilt SuperTruck II team with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and will create prototype truck tires with the goal of reducing the environmental impact of the nation's 3.5 million Class 8 trucks on the road.
Bridgestone will receive a dollar-for-dollar match from the DOE for its investment in creating new tire technologies. The tire maker will create prototype tires in all three axle positions and will incorporate six different tire technologies, including tire sizing, curing, casing construction, casing compounds, tread patterns, and tread compounding.
The prototype tires are expected to deliver up to a 6% improvement in fuel efficiency through a 30% decrease in rolling resistance compared to the MY2009 baseline product tires, while meeting or exceeding customer expectations in wear and traction. At full implementation of the technology over the Class 8 vehicle population, nearly three billion gallons of diesel could potentially be saved per year, corresponding to 30 million metric tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions reduction.
“Bridgestone is committed to engineering innovative products and solutions that maximize uptime, improve efficiency, and deliver best-in-class performance for our commercial customers,” says Steve Charles, vice president of product development for Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC. “Additionally, this project is closely aligned with our internal goal to produce best in class products that contribute to reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by 50% or greater by the year 2050. We are honored to be a part of the SuperTruck II program, working together with our partners to drive the industry forward and ensure a sustainable environment for current and future generations.”
The SuperTruck II program was created by the DOE to research, develop, and demonstrate technologies to improve heavy-truck freight efficiency by more than 100%, with an emphasis on technology, cost-effectiveness, and performance. The predecessor SuperTruck program launched in 2010 has already affected the efficiency of current and newly launching products of the participating companies.
To learn more about the Bridgestone products, solutions and technologies, visit www.commercial.bridgestone.com/en-us/solutions.
