Commercial-vehicle tyre manufacturer, Bridgestone, is enhancing its commitment to the Australian and New Zealand transport industry with the launch of an all-new Bandag B119 trailer tyre.
The B119 retread pattern is the newest addition to the range of pre-cured tread manufactured locally at the Bandag factory in Wacol, Queensland, and replaces the popular BRL3.
The B119 is modelled on the design of Bridgestone’s Ecopia R119 and offers the same benefits of the low-rolling resistance tyre.
Bandag says the B119 achieves a 15 percent reduction in rolling resistance compared to its predecessor, contributing to an improvement of up to 2.9 per cent in fuel consumption.
Additionally, with Bandag’s strongest and most durable compound improving resistance to irregular wear and minimising premature removal, the B119 provides operators with the lowest consolidated tyre and fuel cost per kilometre within the Bridgestone truck and bus range.
Bridgestone Australia Sales Director, Claudio Sodano, is confident the B119 will be embraced by the industry because of its multiple benefits.
“The introduction of the B119 is unique because of its local end to end development and manufacture, to specifically suit the Australian and New Zealand market,” Mr Sodano said.
“It’s an achievement we’re incredibly proud to be unmatched on. We’re confident that it will drive great uptake of our low-rolling resistance trailer retread solution, continuing the trajectory of the BRL3 it replaces. With comparable wear life, and enhanced fuel saving capabilities, as well as the same design and attributes as our Ecopia R119 trailer tyre, we know it will be well received by operators.”
According to Mr Sodano, the key advantage is supporting operators in realising operational efficiencies, and harnessing B119’s economic and environmental benefits to help them achieve their objectives.
“The B119 is also a significant product for our lineup because of the incredible efficiencies it provides operators, especially in linehaul and regional haul applications,” he said.
“The cost per kilometre for tyre and fuel allows operators to optimise their tyre and fuel spend.
“We know that tyres and fuel are key operational expenses fleets face, so being able to offer a product that helps them in optimising their tyre and fuel spend is a real point of difference.”
The cleaner choice
Bandag retreads are a more sustainable tyre solution for fleet operators, providing both economical efficiencies over new tyre costs, as well as supporting businesses in their efforts towards decarbonisation and reducing their environmental impact.
A Bandag retread uses considerably less raw materials, including rubber, oil and carbon black to produce, as well as significantly less water and energy resources than that of a new tyre.
Bandag says that due to its excellent durability, the B119 is suited to medium on/off road applications as well as linehaul and regional haul use – while remaining a cleaner choice for operators.
Performance has also been proven across 5.2 million kilometres of testing in actual end-use applications of metro to mine site on/off road routes, metro and regional freight, and east coast linehaul applications.
“We test our products extensively prior to launch so that operators can be certain they are using safe, reliable and durable products that live up to our high expectations for performance,” Mr Sodano said.
