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According to Herbert Mensching, Head of Marketing and Sales for Truck Tires EMEA at Continental, fleet operators can lower their costs significantly by using the ContiLifeCycle system in an optimum manner. Mensching points out that although direct tyre costs only make up 5% of a fleet’s operating costs, as much as 45% of overall operating costs are influenced by tyre choice, the most significant being fuel , which typically makes up a third of a transport company’s running expenses.
The modular tyre life-cycle concept from Continental extends the tyre's service life, reduces tyre costs, and ensures greater cost ef- fectiveness. The ContiLifeCycle concept bases its success on four aspects: procurement of new tyres, professional regrooving after the tyre's first life, and retreading, together with professional casing man- agement, which gives commercial vehicle tyres a second and third lease of life and maximizes their efficiency. Including regrooving of the tread structure by an expert, the overall service life of a Continen- tal tyre can be increased by up to 2.5 times, and the costs reduced by around 22% with premium retreading of high-quality casings.
Continental offers two retreading options for premium casings. The customer can choose between ContiReTM for hot retreaded tyres and ContiTreadTM for cold retreaded tyres.
Where hot retreading is used, fresh rubber is applied to the entire casing. When heated, it is vulcanized securely to the casing to create a retreaded premium tyre for use on local and long-distance haul- age trucks, construction site vehicles, and buses. All the benefits of Continental tyres, such as low weight, optimized rolling resistance, and good ride comfort, are retained in the ContiReTM even when it has been retreaded.
Where cold retreading is required, Continental's partners use the premium ContiTreadTM tread. Here again, the tread's rubber com- pound and design are identical to the original tread of a new tyre. Continental says it is continually expanding its ContiTreadTM portfo- lio with more sizes and treads. The ContiTreadTM tread can also be used on the casings of other manufacturers, as well as on Continen- tal casings.
"Customers decide which type of retreading is most appropriate for them," explains Herbert Mensching. "After their initial usage, our pre- mium tires remain high quality products in their second life, whether they are hot or cold retreaded."
In Europe, the two processes for tyre retreading are represented al- most equally. While Western Europe prefers hot retreaded tyres (in the UK around 80% of retreads are manufactured using the hot cure process), commercial vehicles in Eastern Europe mainly use cold retreaded tyres.
Regardless of which retreading variant is chosen, customers can take advantage of this option to reduce their overall driving costs by giving their tyres a new lease of life. Continental's ContiLifeCycleTM calcula- tion model helps to simulate the benefits that tyre retreading can bring to a specific fleet. It is based on a customer-specific tyre consultation that quickly and simply demonstrates the potential for savings.
Alongside the considerable cost savings for the fleet operators, ContiLifeCycleTM also protects the environment. The reduced con- sumption of valuable resources, such as natural rubber, lessens the environmental impact of haulage companies. The carbon footprint is also improved, as retreading requires up to 70 percent less energy compared to the manufacture of a new tyre.
48 truck & bus news › 2014/3
然直接的轮胎成本仅占车队营运成本的5%，然而轮 胎的选择对车队总营运成本的影响却高达45%，其 中最重要的是占了运输公司运行成本1/3 的燃油。
马牌模块化的轮胎再生概念将延长轮胎的服 务寿命，降低轮胎成本，确保更大的成本效 益。ContiLifeCycle概念的成功建基于4大要素: 采购新轮胎、轮胎第一次使用寿命结束后的专业 刻花和翻新，专业胎体管理及将它们的效率最大 化。包括请专家的重新刻花，马牌轮胎的整体使 用寿命能够提高至2.5倍，再加上其优质胎体可使 成本降低约22%。
马牌为优质胎体提供两种选择。客户能够选择 ContiReTM热法翻新轮胎或ContiTreadTM冷法翻新。 采用热法翻新，就会将新鲜的橡胶施放在整个胎 体上。一旦加热，该橡胶就会被硫化，紧紧贴住 胎体，制造出一条能够被用于当地或长途卡车、 建筑场地车子及巴士的优质翻胎。所有马牌商业 轮胎的好处如低重量、优化的滚动阻力及舒适的 乘坐都会保留在ContiReTM里，即使它经过翻新。
如果需要冷翻，马牌的伙伴将采用优质的Conti- TreadTM胎面胶。它所使用的胎面胶和设计都和其 新轮胎原来的花纹相似。马牌说他们将持续扩展 其ContiTreadTM产品组别，推出更多的尺寸和款 型。在马牌胎体之外，ContiTreadTM也能用于其它 制造商的胎体。
“客户决定哪一种翻新方法最适合他们。”孟兴 解释说:“经过最初的使用后，我们的优质轮胎 在它们的第二生命里仍然保持高品质，不论它们 是采用热法或冷法翻新。”
在欧洲，这两大翻新法拥有相等的份额。西欧偏 向热法翻新(在英国约80%的轮胎采用热法翻新) ，东欧的商用车主要采用冷法翻新。
不论采用哪一种翻新法，客户都能够通过它来降低 他们的整体驾驶成本，让轮胎重获新生。马牌的 ContiLifeCycle计算模式协助模拟翻胎能够提供给 特定车队的好处。它以客户的特定轮胎咨询作为依 据，快速和简单地计算出可为客户带来的节省。
在为车队营运者提供客观的成本节省之 外，ContiLifeCycle也能保护环境，降低可贵资 源如天然胶的消耗和减少货运公司对环境的冲 击。此外，还能改善二氧化氮，因为生产翻胎所 需要的能源比制造新轮胎少了70%。