In recent posts, I’ve mentioned Goodyear’s DuraSeal Popper, a device that demonstrates DuraSeal Technology’s self-sealing capability. How does DuraSeal itself work? Here’s a quick refresher!

DuraSeal is built into the tire.

When a nail puncture occurs, DuraSeal instantly surrounds the nail and seals the puncture. (DuraSeal is built into the crown of the tire, which means it helps protect the part of the tire where punctures most often happen.)

DuraSeal-equipped tires also are easy to retread. DuraSeal’s easy-to-see yellow color helps highlight where punctures are located, and DuraSeal doesn’t need to be removed when a worn tire is ready to be retreaded. DuraSeal also is solvent-free and non-flammable. All of this helps lower your operating costs.

If you’re interested in learning more, here’s a link to some additional info, plus a DuraSeal video. And if  you already are enjoying the benefits of this technology, let me know by clicking here!

Stay tuned to The Tire Answer Man blog for “refresher courses” on other exclusive Goodyear truck tire technologies, like Fuel Max Technology.

Every once in a while, I receive questions about steer tires, and sometimes these questions center on the subject of tread grooves in steer tires.

Pick a highly engineered steer tire!

While discussing this topic, keep in mind that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires that the steer tires on a bus, truck or tractor-trailer have a tread groove depth of at least 4/32nds-inch when measured at any point on a major tread groove. (Drive and trailer tires must not be less than 2/32nds of an inch.)

In addition, buses cannot operate with regrooved or retreaded tires on the front axle.

When selecting a steer tire, remember that they are vital to your truck’s performance. Pick a highly engineered steer tire with an enhanced casing design – such as one of the many offered by Goodyear – so the tire can enjoy multiple lives through retreading.

It will make for a “groovy” situation – and you’ll thank yourself later! (More info about Goodyear’s line-up of steer tires can be found here.)

As The Tire Answer Man, I sometimes field questions about truck tire ply ratings. One of the more common questions I receive is, “Can I mix tires that have different ply ratings?”

Ply ratings are important!

The answer to that question is, “Yes – as long as certain requirements have been met.”

For instance, mixing G and H Load Rated radial tires won’t cause issues if the diameters of the tires are matched within a quarter-inch, their tread patterns are the same, and you do not exceed the inflation or load-carrying capacity at least equal to the maximum load capacity of the axle position to which it’s applied. (Now that’s a mouthful!)

And don’t forget: the tires should be inflated to the same psi level as dictated by the lowest ply rating.

I’ll tackle another common question in the next edition of this blog. Do you have a question? Send it to me by clicking here!

Do you think that once a tire has been scrapped, it has no value? Think again.

Scrap tires contain valuable info!

The information you gather from scrap tires can help you see important trends, which in turn will help you make better decisions about tire maintenance and other key issues. Here are some helpful hints to keep in mind before you embark on your next scrap tire analysis:

* Sifting through a pile of scrap tires doesn’t have to be a one-person job. It’s easier to have at least one person who can help move the tires around and another person to jot down information.

* Have at least one awl available for digging into cuts, nail holes and loose belts. Other useful tools include long nose pliers, a flashlight, a tire crayon and a tread depth gauge.

* Don’t be afraid to ask your local commercial tire dealership for assistance. Tap into your dealer’s expertise.

Remember: a good scrap tire analysis program can help you avoid past mistakes and reduce future tire costs. It’s well worth the time and effort!

It’s been more than a month since Goodyear crowned its 29^th North America Highway Hero. What an exciting event that was!  And now it’s time to start thinking about next year’s Highway Hero nominations.

Past Highway Hero Award finalists!

Do you have a worthy candidate in mind? Let us know by clicking here! When nominating a candidate, please consider these requirements:

* Nominee must be a full-time truck driver.

* Nominee must reside in the U.S. or Canada.

* The heroic incident must have occurred in the U.S. or Canada. (Incidents taking place after Nov. 16, 2011, qualify!)

* The nominee must have been on the job, or on the way to or from work, and in his or her truck at the time of the incident.

* The nominee’s truck, at the time of the incident, must have had 14 wheels or more.

Nominations for the next Highway Hero Award must be sent to Goodyear by Nov. 30, 2012. By the way, we will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the Highway Hero Award next year, making it all that more special. Who will you nominate?

Greetings from the floor of WasteExpo 2012, where your friendly neighborhood Tire Answer Man is spending his week! 

Greetings from WasteExpo!

WasteExpo, which is taking place in Las Vegas, is the largest recycling and solid waste industry event in North America, and Goodyear has a big presence at the show this year. We’re displaying a variety of truck tires at our booth, including:

* The Goodyear G278 MSD and the Goodyear G286 MSA, two wide-base tires.

* The Goodyear G289 WHA, a waste haul tire that contains Goodyear’s patented DuraSeal Technology.

* The Goodyear G741 MSD, which has been designed for severe-service applications.

We’re also displaying several retreaded tires, as well as the famous DuraSeal Popper, which demonstrates Goodyear’s self-sealing truck tire technology. (For more about the DuraSeal Popper, scroll down the page!)

Feel free to drop in and say hello. And bring your tire questions!

As someone who travels a lot, I know that staying fit while on the road can be a major challenge. When you’re in a new town every day, it’s hard to eat healthy foods and find time to exercise. And it isn’t always easy to get a full night’s rest, even if you’re snoozing in a well-appointed sleeper cab! 

The Tire Answer Man and The Trucker Trainer!

That’s why I want to draw your attention to the 2012 Rolling Strong Driver Wellness Tour, which kicks off this Wednesday, April 18. Rolling Strong is a group that, as its recent press release announced, “is on a mission to educate drivers” about fitness while providing in-terminal and on-the-road wellness programs.

The Driver Wellness Tour will stop at nine Pilot Flying J locations through the end of the year. During these events, truck drivers will have the opportunity to work out with Rolling Strong representatives and receive free tools to help them on their road to better health.

In addition, drivers at each stop will have an opportunity to walk with Rolling Strong President Bob Perry (a.k.a.”The Trucker Trainer”) as he rolls a Goodyear truck tire for seven miles. By the end of the tour, Bob will have rolled the tire for 63 miles!

For more information about Rolling Strong and its 2012 Driver Wellness Tour, call (888) 506-6079 or visit http://www.rollingstrong.com/. You may learn a few things.

By the way, if you have tips for staying fit while on the road, let me know by clicking here. I’d love to share them on this blog!

I’ve talked about how important it is to select the right tires for your truck. It’s also important to monitor and manage your tires after they’ve hit the highway.

A robust monitoring and management program can help you optimize your tire assets. To this end, Goodyear recently made some upgrades to its TVTrack program, which is available through fleetHQ. The next-generation version of TVTrack, as we call it, allows fleet owners and managers to:

* Capture and report data about their vehicles and tires.

* Choose from a variety of tire specifications. (TVTrack has been pre-loaded with information for nearly every tire available in North America, regardless of manufacturer.)

* Use the 3G Cellular Network, a Wi-Fi connection and/or Web-enabled devices like smart phones, laptops and tablet computers to enter in new data about tire pressure, tread wear and more for individual trucks and trailers.

* Use a “clone this” function that allows data about tractors and trailers to be replicated quickly.

TVTrack, like all of fleetHQ’s business solutions, is available to fleets of all sizes, from single owner-operators to trucking operations that have thousands of vehicles. It is available through authorized Goodyear dealers.

Obviously, I’m a little biased, but if you aren’t using TVTrack already, I recommend that you explore the option, especially if you’re looking to monitor and manage your truck tire assets more effectively. And if you are already having success with TVTrack, let me know by clicking here!

Last summer, Goodyear introduced two new wide-base truck tires that contain DuraSeal Technology: the G392 SSD and the G394 SST. For those of you who aren’t familiar with DuraSeal, it’s a yellow, gel-like rubber compound that instantly seals punctures in the tread area of the tire.

367 "pops" later, and still inflated!

To demonstrate how this technology works, we created a nifty device that I affectionately call the Goodyear DuraSeal “Popper.” You walk up to it, pull the lever, and drive a nail into the tire’s tread. Then you watch the tire not go flat!

We took this fun little machine to the Mid-America Trucking Show last week, and invited people who dropped by our booth to give the Popper – which was equipped with a new G394 SST – a whirl. And boy, did they ever! Over the course of three days, they filled the G394 with approximately 367 holes!

The tire, I’m happy to report, didn’t lose any air. (Keep in mind that while the tire was inflated on the Popper, it was not under a load.)

DuraSeal only can seal holes up to ¼-inch in diameter, and the punctures have to be in the tread area of the tire. (Goodyear hasn’t developed DuraSeal for sidewalls – yet!)

But if driving 367 holes into a tire isn’t an impressive display of DuraSeal’s ability to help prevent air loss, I don’t know what is. And as a bonus, people probably have never had more fun putting holes in a tire!

Look for the DuraSeal Popper as you make your trade show rounds. And if you have a DuraSeal story of your own, I’d love to hear it. Share it by clicking here!

Goodyear recently crowned the 29^th North America Highway Hero – Mike Schiotis, a truck driver from Spring Hill, Tenn., who last year put his life on the line by rescuing a woman from a gun-wielding attacker. 

Mike Schiotis (left), the 2011 Goodyear Highway Hero!

Chosen from among four finalists, Mr. Schiotis accepted the 2011 Goodyear North America Highway Hero Award during an emotional ceremony last Thursday night.

I’ve been part of the Highway Hero program for many years and can tell you without hesitation that Mr. Schiotis’ story is one of the most dramatic Highway Hero stories I’ve ever heard!

Mr. Schiotis, who works for Panther Expedited Services Inc., was driving to his destination in Pennsylvania last November, when he spotted a woman walking down the road, with a man close behind her. Thinking they were injured, he slowed down his truck and noticed that the man was pointing a gun at the woman!

Mr. Schiotis stopped his truck. The woman began pounding on his door, screaming “Help me! He’s going to kill me!”

With no regard for his own safety, Mr. Schiotis jumped out of his truck and positioned himself between the woman, who was bleeding from the head, and the man. He helped her into his rig and decided to take her to the next truck stop.

The gunman got back in his car and began to follow Mr. Schiotis’ truck. Mr. Schiotis pulled into a truck stop, but decided it was safer to continue down the highway. Meanwhile, he notified the Pennsylvania State Highway Patrol, and then used his CB to tell other truck drivers in the area about what was taking place.

Another driver, who was behind Mr. Schiotis’ 18-wheeler, heard him and took action. Together, they drove side-by-side, weaving back and forth to prevent the gunman from closing in. This gave troopers enough time to catch up with the man and apprehend him.

Mr. Schiotis’ decision to interject himself into this dangerous situation is a powerful example of the selflessness and professionalism exhibited by truck drivers everywhere. Because of his brave actions, a life was, in all likelihood, saved.

For this, Mike Schiotis has earned the right to be called a hero. We salute him for his courage!