Budget Truck Tyres
How the cheapest tyres could cost you more.
While quick low-cost sales can benefit budget manufacturers and distributors in the short term, retailers may pay the ultimate price in what is essentially a race to the bottom. In a market flooded with low-cost tyres, retailers are forced to accept reduced margins, cutting into profits and limiting the growth of their businesses.
Industry Insight: Truck & Bus
In an increasingly competitive market, choosing the right TBR tyre can be challenging. Consideration of cost, performance, and value is paramount to ensuring the right fit for you and your customer, and with the vast choice of low-cost options available today, you could say that buying is more complex than ever.
In this blog post, we'll discuss why opting for the cheapest truck tyres may end up costing you more and demonstrate how investing in higher-quality products is a smarter move for fleet managers, owner-operators, and tyre businesses.
To further add to the brand’s credibility, Double Coin is an official OEM supplier to one of the world’s leading commercial trailer manufacturers, Schmitz Cargobull.
The German manufacturer has approved patterns RT910, RR905 and RLB900+ for factory fitment on new trailers. This commendable achievement is a direct result of research and development, innovation and continued investment in the latest manufacturing technologies and production facilities.
The old adage “you get what you pay for” couldn’t be truer when it comes to purchasing tyres for commercial use, and operating a responsible tyre purchasing policy is crucial for road transport businesses, as it can impact up to 5% of their total running costs. As such, buyers need a good understanding of the technical expertise, materials used and manufacturing capabilities behind each brand before they can make an informed decision.
In most cases, factories that produce bottom-end budget tyres lack up-to-date knowledge, see little or no value in research and development and rely on outdated manufacturing processes. While these factories are efficient in producing high volumes quickly, their main objective is to cut costs through cheaper materials, greater levels of production and a reduced focus on quality control.
In addition to product quality; aftersales service, manufacturer warranty and factory/distributor relationships should also be considered before adding brands to your retail portfolio or fitting to your fleet. When working with factories producing the same tyres for multiple different brands, you may find these qualities hard to come by.
Double Coin recently opened its first manufacturing facility outside of China, situated in Thailand's Luckchai Rubber Industrial City Hub. With a 3.6 million square foot facility and cutting-edge technologies such as automated manufacturing and material transfer, it is designed to meet Industry 4.0 standards - boasting an impressive capacity for producing 1.5 million TBR tyres as well as 50,000 OTR, annually.
Moreover, the MES (Manufacturing Execution System) software controls production operations while seamlessly integrating with SAP for improved efficiency across all processes – making this factory one of the most advanced in the world.
State-of-the-art doesn’t always mean expensive. Premium-economy manufacturers such as Double Coin produce tyres that perform alongside their premium counterparts at a price point that sits just above the budget bracket. Over 30 years ago, Double Coin became the first Chinese tyre manufacturer to export radial truck tyres to the UK and has since sold over 2 million units through its long-standing exclusive distributor, Kirkby Tyres.
In the US, Double Coin steer, drive and trailer patterns were tested against premium brands by independent transport technology researcher, PIT Group. Outperforming the world’s leading tyre manufacturer in both fuel economy and fuel consumption, the results were confirmation of Double Coin’s quality and a clear indication of their value as an investment.
Retreading is utilised by many road transport businesses looking to reduce operating costs and maximise tyre investments. With decades of R&D and the use of high-quality raw materials, Double Coin truck tyres can be retreaded as well as any premium manufacturer. Their durable casings are regularly remoulded up to 3 times – a feat which is not possible with budget alternatives.
When it comes to performance and overall tyre life, tread depth is a key factor. Double Coin’s tread designs match the standards of premium tyres and offer more tread depth than budget brands. They provide the wear resistance required for long-distance, regional and even heavy-duty road transport operations while remaining affordable.
With budget price comes budget results, and since the implementation of the EU tyre label, this has become difficult to hide.
The Double Coin RT910 385/65R22.5 164K boasts B-rated rolling resistance, B-rated wet grip, B-rated noise level and is 3PMSF certified. With these attributes, the RT910 outperforms some of the world’s most expensive commercial trailer tyres.
How the cheapest tyres could cost you more.