The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a verification program for tire retread technologies for use on line-haul Class 8 trucks.
Continental Tire the Americas LLC submitted its HDL Eco Plus ContiTread drive product and the HTL Eco Plus ContiTread trailer product to the EPA this morning, immediately following the announcement of the standards.
The EPA says that under its parameters, verified low rolling resistance retread products will provide reductions in fuel consumption of at least 3%. To obtain the minimum reductions in fuel consumption, verified tires or retreads must be used on the drive and trailer positions, with EPA verified steer tires, and all tires must be properly inflated according to the manufacturer’s specs.
The EPA’s verification test process and performance requirements are applicable to precure or mold cure retread products to be used for drive or trailer tires in the Class 8 line-haul tractor trailer applications.