As we approach 2030, the landscape of road freight transport in Europe is set to undergo significant changes. Experts predict that the average distance traveled by road freight in Germany will increase to 167 kilometers, up 19 percent from 2010. This reflects broader patterns across the EU, where the total volume of freight transported in 2016 exceeded 19 billion metric tons. Despite this critical role, most EU countries invest less than one percent of their GDP in transport infrastructure. This underinvestment poses challenges, especially since around three-quarters of all freight in the EU is transported by road. While the share of road transport is expected to decline slightly, the overall volume of freight is projected to grow, offsetting any potential reductions.
The environmental impact of this sector is significant, with commercial vehicles accounting for around 19 percent of toxic nitrogen oxide emissions in German cities. The goal is to protect the environment by reducing carbon footprints and emissions, a challenge in a highly competitive market with labor shortages, rising energy prices, and fragile supply chains.
Continental stands out as a leader in sustainable logistics with its Conti360° Solutions package, which consolidates all its eco-friendly fleet management activities. This holistic service, combined with the Lowest Overall Driving Costs (LODC) consulting approach, underscores Continental’s commitment to sustainability and efficiency.
Tires are critical to the sustainability and cost-efficiency of truck fleets, accounting for about half of a truck fleet's operating costs. Continental’s focus on advanced tire technology and efficient fleet management helps reduce these costs while minimizing environmental impact. By optimizing tire performance and longevity, Continental ensures that fleets operate more sustainably, contributing to lower emissions and reduced resource consumption.
As the tire industry evolves, Continental is committed to integrating alternative materials into its production processes. By 2050, the company aims to achieve a fully circular economy in tire manufacturing, using 100% sustainably produced materials. This ambitious goal involves using alternative materials like pyrolysis oil derived from recycled tires and replacing fossil oils with sustainable, plant-based alternatives. Additionally, Continental is incorporating recycled materials into production, closing the loop on resource usage. By adopting renewable raw materials and sustainable fillers like rice husks, the company is reducing its environmental footprint while maintaining high tire performance.
Continental's Conti360° Solutions make use of modern vehicle technology, including numerous assistance systems and digital tools. These technologies improve transport and route planning, making logistics operations more efficient and reducing unnecessary mileage. Integrating digitalization into fleet management enables real-time monitoring and data analysis, leading to smarter and more sustainable decisions.
Designed to handle much heavier loads than passenger car tires, commercial vehicle tires have a load-carrying capacity of around five metric tons. Despite the high loads, the total tire surface area in contact with the road for a 12-wheeler semitrailer rig is less than one square meter, emphasizing their critical role as the physical link between the vehicle and the ground, providing the necessary grip for acceleration, braking, and cornering.
Commercial vehicle tires are developed for different surfaces, temperatures, and loads, resulting in specialized tires for each application.
They cover much higher mileages compared to passenger car tires and are designed to suit different axle positions such as steer, drive, trailer and lift axles. There are different tires for long-haul freight, regional transport, and on-/off-road use. In addition, special bus tires are tailored for touring, intercity and urban use, while the Scandinavia range is designed for severe winter conditions.
Tires come in two primary designs: cross-ply and radial. Cross-ply tires are an older design that is now sold in modified forms. Radial tires, introduced in 1948, offer greater flexibility and durability, providing more than twice the service life of cross-ply models. Radial tires are superior in wear resistance and effectively transfer engine power and braking force to the road. Their design, with plies running radially at 90° to the tire circumference, results in smoother sidewalls and improved performance.
Recognizing the critical role tires play in sustainability makes it even more interesting to explore how they are manufactured.
The journey of a tire from raw materials to the finished product involves a meticulous six-stage process that ensures both performance and safety. It begins with sourcing essential materials like steel, synthetic rubber, natural rubber, and textiles. These are then mixed and processed into compounds before being formed into various tire components, such as the tread strip and bead core. These components are assembled into a "green tire," which is then vulcanized—a process that solidifies its structure. Finally, rigorous quality control checks ensure that each tire meets the highest standards before reaching the road.
Understanding tire longevity is critical to optimize performance and safety. A tire's lifespan is affected by several factors, such as whether it's used for local transport or long-distance hauling and maintaining optimal tire pressure plays a key role in extending mileage while reducing fuel consumption.
Normal tread wear occurs naturally as a result of ground contact, but it can be exacerbated by poor wheel alignment, driving on rough terrain or incorrect tire pressure. Punctures are often the result of damage from foreign objects or wear, compounded by chassis misalignment, which increases both wear and fuel consumption.
Uneven tire wear is commonly caused by overinflation leading to excessive wear in the center of the tread, or underinflation, which causes wear on the outer ribs. Wheel imbalance also contributes to uneven wear patterns that affect overall tire performance.
Tires also age due to physical and chemical processes accelerated by environmental factors such as UV light, moisture, and temperature extremes. Even stored or lightly used tires can experience changes in elasticity and adhesion over time.
To mitigate these effects, tire manufacturers add substances to the tire compound that significantly slow down the aging process. Properly stored tires can maintain their specifications for up to five years and remain fully functional. It's recommended that tires be replaced after ten years to ensure continued safety and optimal performance on the road.
