Tires & Tyres

I think for sure the tyre industry will be tagging all tyres by the end of this decade. Tagging was first tried by Michelin in 2003 but now with a tyre industry agreed standard it is about to take off.

Bandag Bridgestone has said they will be tagging truck tyres in Brazil and Sailun of China has promised tagged tyres for later this year. What is not clear in either case is whether this is for ranges of tyres or an answer to requests.

Tyre theft is a big problem with tyres being swopped out whilst vehicles are out on routes. RFID tagging will not only help deter this sort of theft but will greatly aid truck fleets in managing efficient tyre maintenance.

Large tyres are often re-capped, up to five times, and knowing that they can be sure they get their carefully looked after tyres back from the re-treader will encourage firms. However given the price -
re-treads are generally half the cost of new tyres and give 80% of the total mileage - it should be an easy decision.

If you look at PneuLogic' site - Trans-Logik.com, which has been active in the field for a number of years you can see the tools, and the momentum for RFID.

So 2020 it could well be a billion tags a year in tyres. Any recalls under the TREAD Act should be a lot easier!