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USA
US EPA Backs Retreads
your tractor. That’s because you very well may be able to get substantial fuel savings from low- rolling-resistance tyres, new or retreads.
When EPA first worked to add retreads to its programme they faced the same challenges as had been found in Europe. There was a question over the impact of the casing on low rolling resistance compared to the tread. How much fuel savings was from the tread itself, and how much from the casing? The agency developed an “interim retread protocol” by which all retreaders tested their treads on the same model casing that they felt represented a typical tyre: an American-made Yokohama Super Steel RY-617 in size 295/75R22.5.
In a realisation that this “interim retread protocol” was not reflecting the reality of the US market retreading on whatever casings were available, the EPA started looking at mixed casings and retreads.
“We recognised that common industry practice is to apply retreads to any retreadable tyre,” said Dennis Johnson, Technology Assessment Center Director in EPA's Transportation and Climate Division. “What we’ve demonstrated is that when you apply different low-rolling- resistance treads to commercially available casings, we’re seeing comparable fuel savings to new low-rolling-resistance tyres.”
The agency is developing new protocols, proposing that it get away from using a standard casing. Instead, it will allow the retreader to choose a casing from a SmartWay-verified new tyre when they do their testing. “The expectation is these low-rolling- resistance retreads will be able to achieve comparable performance to the new tyre target value," Johnson said.
EPA hopes to have the final retread protocols finalised by the end of 2019.
The US EPA SmartWay programme, designated to create standards and reduce the environmental impact of trucking in the USA, has recently released studies into the effectiveness of streamlining devices on trucks. The summary is that air deflection devices work best on highway
are high-roof and tend to match well with a box trailer," explained Sam Waltzer, SmartWay technology team leader within EPA's Technology Assessment Center. "We found they can still make a difference.”
Even when regional trucks aren’t traveling at highway speeds, these
journeys at higher speeds, but that they also make a difference around urban areas. This guidance applies to regional day cabs as well as sleeper cabs.
Fleets running fuel-efficient regional day cabs can now get their trucks recognised by SmartWay. EPA originally focused on long- haul sleeper cabs because that’s where the bulk of the fuel was consumed.
“What we found as we continued our research was the same low- rolling-resistance and aerodynamic technologies were having an impact even on day cabs, specifically with configurations that
technologies can still make a difference, if not as great a one as vehicles that spend most of their day on the open road, he said.
In addition, the EPA also advised fleet operators to look at their tyres and work towards the best low rolling resistance options available. “Today, there are a large variety of low-rolling-resistance tyres, and fleets should not just accept the standard regional-spec that comes on the truck as the best option. If you are using day cabs and lower- speed operations,” said EPA officials, “look at different types of low-rolling-resistance tyres compared to what you have on
EPA is proposing a new protocol for verifying retreads under SmartWay
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