I have been puzzled for more years than I care to consider as to why tyres, and so the personnel that service our tyres, are treated so poorly. Before replying, have a wander around a car park at the supermarket, or at the truck stop, and look at the condition of the tyres. My team’s fathers have taught their children to look at tyres and so they have become ‘tyre aware’. The children report to me with what they observe of the tyres on vehicles adjacent to them when stopped at traffic lights or in traffic, and they are most concerned! They well understand that their primary safety starts with tyres that are in good condition and appropriately inflated. Thankfully, with TPMS, pressure maintenance has been semi-automated, if the driver takes any notice of the notification on the dash.

So, the personnel who ‘repair’ our tyres, the people at the local tyre shop, or the heavy vehicle service centre or maybe even on a mine site manoeuvring a 4-metre giant tyre onto a wheel or rim, with a combined mass of 5 tonnes to be fitted to a giant haul truck providing a GVM of 600 tonnes, have one thing in common – they are in the firing line if a catastrophic tyre failure occurs during service.

A quick search on the internet will bring a plethora of such events recorded. Why is it serious? A medium size 22.5-inch truck tyre has a burst potential of more than 12 tonnes – a larger tyre of course has a higher potential. There is a serious differentiation that needs to be explained here: a tyre burst is the instantaneous (or near to) release of contained inflation pressure. The resultant force is directly related to the inflation pressure. A tyre explosion is the result of combustion within the tyre’s air chamber. The resultant forces may be magnitudes higher than the initial inflation pressure.

A burst has an effect on the human body not unlike that of a military hand grenade; agreed there is no thermal outcome in a tyre burst and no chemical effects, but the air blast is somewhat equivalent. We expect our tyre service personnel to work on equipment of unknown history or unknown service life on pavements of greatly varying quality without question. Experience is what differentiates older tyre service personnel from a new starter. Sure there are training facilities as well as the school of hard knocks. I do say to trainees, “do not use your first chance with tyres, you may not get another.” Then I show some tyre burst videos and the understanding is set in place.

The quality of components for a pressure vessel – as a tyre assembly actually is – is most critical. The tyre itself must be carefully inspected and be sound and free of defects as far as an external examination can determine. The wheel or rim components, particularly lockrings, MUST be in sound condition and must be compatible with the wheel/rim base they are being mounted onto. If the tyre service personnel are not 100 percent certain of compatibility, then it’s a no fit event.

A tyre being inflated after mounting is worthy of a formal risk assessment. A “what if” process, questions of what if the tyre failed during inflation, what if the wheel/rim failed or in the case of a multi piece assembly disassembled, who is in the firing line in such a case? Yes, inflation cages are a mandate (or should be) in professional tyre shops. The simple hoop style cage will prevent large pieces being ejected from a catastrophic failure but still permits the air blast to escape, potentially damaging any human body within 2–3 metres.

The damage an air blast impacts onto a human body may not be visible from the outside. Such an air blast may impart serious injury to soft internal organs such as lungs, kidneys, digestive systems and may even result in embolisms that can traverse the blood returns to the brain or heart where injury is a not if but how bad. 

If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in or attend a catastrophic tyre failure, then have the service personnel attended by an emergency physician with continued observation for 24 hours. The damage to the body may not be immediately apparent.

So why do we permit untrained (read lacking confirmed competence) personnel to work in such a high risk environment? It circles back to why people purchase budget priced tyres; they just don’t see any value in paying for quality. A quick story: a 4WD pulls into the local tyre shop, the driver exclaims he wants the best off-road tyres in the shop and then explains, “Oh, my wife will be with the family car next week, just a set of cheapies on hers will be fine.”  There is total confusion in the value proposition here. His toy has to have the best, but the family vehicle can have cut or rock bottom price items. HELLO??? The same phenomenon happens with tyre service work. A smart transport operator well understands that the cost of operating their tyres is a lot more than just the tyre’s purchase price. The tyre bay that supports the operation and keeps it rolling is a key component of the operation. So why not invest in trained and skilled personnel? I say to these owners, a good tyre service personnel knows all their tyres by their first names. Just as the transport operator can tell you about the habits of different vehicles, a competent tyre person can identify aspects of tyre performance most would not even think about; no, most don’t even think about their tyres, let alone care!

A well-mounted tyre, i.e. one that has been properly mounted onto the wheel or rim base so that it is concentric with the base, will balance up well, rotate smoothly without continually hammering the suspension on every revolution and as well provide fuel savings AND a safe ride for the driver and passengers. Add properly inflated and then maintained (of course, TPMS provides the easiest form of maintenance), and a tyre will perform at its best, which is what we demand when the vehicle is put into a corner, or required to brake heavily. Why would you not want the tyres to be able to perform at peak performance without fault?

Invest in your tyre service personnel, train them and educate them to not only understand the risks but observe the potentials too. Improved business with your clientele as well as enhanced safety for your work force will result. Remember, the TyreSafe 6M principle’s end result is to??? (If you don’t know, askus@tyresafe.com.au)

Competent and passionate tyre service people are worth their weight in gold. When you find one, you’ll understand what I mean.

Take care, stay safe, isolate as required and enjoy! (TT)

Eurogrip Tyres, the leading tyre manufacturer in India, showcased its premium two-wheeler tyres at the 17th edition of Feria 2 Ruedas (F2R) International Motorcycle exhibition held at Plaza Mayor, Medellin, Colombia. The dates of this high-profile business event in South America's two-wheeler sector are 15–18 May 2025.

For more than 17 years, the Feria de las 2 Ruedas (F2R) has been the leading motorcycle industry event in Latin America. The expo, which takes place every year in Medellín, Colombia, is a vibrant venue for commerce, innovation and growth in the motorcycling sector. Additionally, it gives aficionados the chance to investigate the most recent developments and trends in the industry. The company showcased its premium lineup at exhibit N24 in the Tented Pavillion, which included a range of sport touring, off-road and trail tyres. High-performance versions including the Roadhound, Protorq Extreme, Trailhound STR, Climber, Bee Connect, Terrabite DB+ and Badhshah LX were on display.

P Madhavan, Executive Vice-President – Marketing & Sales, TVS Srichakra Ltd, said, “Eurogrip is focused to deliver innovative products for the global markets. Latin America is a priority market for us, and F2R Expo is a promising platform to engage with our target audience. We are looking forward to interesting business opportunities arising from this expo. Such specialised industry tradeshows add exceptional value to our quest in becoming a leading global tyre brand delivering world class tyre technology.”

Denka Company Limited announced it would record an extraordinary loss of approximately 16.1 billion yen (£85.8 million) as an impairment on manufacturing facilities at its US subsidiary. It will indefinitely suspend chloroprene rubber production at the Louisiana plant.

The Japanese chemical manufacturer, which holds a 70 percent stake in Denka Performance Elastomer LLC (DPE), cited mounting operational challenges, including unexpectedly high costs for pollution control equipment and declining production volumes at the American facility.

“DPE has faced significant cost, production and other challenges at its facility in the United States,” the company said in a statement. “Rising costs are attributable to, among other factors, identification, design, purchase, installation, and operation of pollution control equipment to reduce chloroprene emissions that DPE did not anticipate being required when it acquired the facility from E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company.”

The subsidiary was established in December 2014 and acquired the chloroprene rubber business from DuPont in November 2015. The Louisiana facility was intended to serve as a second manufacturing site in North America, complementing Denka’s Omi Plant in Itoigawa, Niigata, Japan.

However, according to the company statement, DPE has struggled with multiple operational issues, including “rising energy costs and a shortage of qualified staff necessary to operate new pollution control equipment and implement other emission reduction measures. “

Production volumes have declined partly due to “operational restrictions arising from the pollution reduction measures and unscheduled plant outages associated with supply chain disruptions and severe weather events,” Denka said.

The company noted that these challenges, combined with changes in the global economic environment for chloroprene rubber, have pressured profitability, making near-term improvement difficult.

Denka confirmed that DPE employs 250 people as of December 2024 and will not restart its chloroprene rubber manufacturing facilities following a regular maintenance shutdown. Instead, “all options for the business, including a potential sale of the business or its assets, will be considered,” the statement said.

The company emphasised that “no decision regarding a permanent closure of the facility has been made at this time.”

Customers will continue to be supplied from current inventories and production at the company’s Omi Plant in Japan.

DPE is 70 percent owned by Denka USA LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Denka Company Limited, and 30 percent by Diana Elastomers, Inc., a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

Yokohama Rubber reported a 56.9 percent year-on-year decline in profit attributable to owners for the first quarter of 2025, despite posting a 9.0 percent increase in sales revenue.

The Japanese tyre maker recorded a profit of 8.53 billion yen for the three months ended 31 March, down from 19.8 billion yen in the same period last year. Business profit fell 3.2 percent to 24.07 billion yen, while sales revenue rose to 275.12 billion yen.

The company maintained its full-year forecast, projecting an 11.4 percent increase in sales revenue to 1.22 trillion yen and an 8.8 percent rise in profit to 81.5 billion yen for the fiscal year ending 31 December 2025.

Yokohama Rubber attributed the profit decline to one-time costs related to its February acquisition of Goodyear’s off-the-road (OTR) tyre business, which it purchased for approximately 143 billion yen.

“Profit from existing businesses was strong,” the company said in its earnings statement. “In addition to increased sales volume for the company’s consumer tyres, mainly in overseas markets, and continued expansion of sales of high-value-added ADVAN, GEOLANDAR, and Winter tyres as well as high-inch tyres, profit was boosted by the MB segment’s MIX improvements and structural reforms.”

The tyre segment, which accounts for 91percent of the group’s consolidated sales revenue, saw a 10.4 percent increase in sales to 250.32 billion yen. Original equipment tyre sales were higher year-on-year, driven by “strong sales in Japan of vehicle models equipped with YOKOHAMA tyres and expansion of shipments for Chinese automakers’ new energy vehicles,” the company said.

Replacement tyre sales also increased, supported by higher sales of summer and winter tyres in Japan, increased sales of high-inch tyres in Europe, and stepped-up sales efforts in Asia.

The MB (Multiple Businesses) segment, which represents 8.4 percent of total sales, experienced a 3.2 percent revenue decline to 23.02 billion yen. This was attributed to lower demand from construction machinery makers in Japan and automakers in North America.

The company described an “upbeat” business sentiment in Japan for the quarter, noting that “a steady recovery in inbound demand and increasing orders for construction and logistics projects compensated for weak consumption by domestic households curbing spending in response to rising prices of consumer goods.”

Overseas, the company observed rising inflation concerns weighing on consumer spending in the United States, while in Europe, “manufacturing industries are rebounding and corporate business sentiment is improving.” In China, personal consumption was boosted by the Spring Festival holiday, but high US tariffs “reduced China’s exports and created uncertainty about the future that is weakening industrial activity.”

Swedish speciality chemicals firm Nynas reported solid financial results for 2024, posting an Adjusted EBITDA of 1,333 million Swedish kronor, marginally higher than the 1,316 million kronor recorded in 2023.

The company, which specialises in naphthenic speciality oils and bitumen products, attributed its performance to operational efficiency and commercial success in its niche markets.

“We are delighted with the progress made during 2024, evidencing our right-sized cost base and a more targeted commercial and manufacturing footprint. We have redefined our strategic direction, positioning Nynas as a speciality chemicals company, enabling the energy transition and setting our course for 2035,” Nynas CEO Eric Gosse said in a statement.

The firm highlighted strong cash generation from operations, which it said would support planned investments and longer-term growth initiatives. Nynas also mentioned the ongoing transformation of its Harburg site with plans to monetise the asset eventually.

All three of the company’s production facilities maintained high operational reliability between 95 percent and 99 percent. The Nynäshamn refinery achieved a notable milestone: in May 2024, it set a new monthly production record for naphthenic speciality oils at 42,000 tonnes.

Strategic pivot towards sustainability

Nynas outlined a strategic shift focused on higher-margin speciality materials with sustainable characteristics. The company aims to strengthen its position in European markets through innovation and sustainability initiatives.

“Nynas is uniquely positioned to contribute to the energy transition. Our strategy reflects our purpose to advance a more sustainable society, and our product development pipeline is fully aligned with this goal," Gosse added.

In 2024, the company received an EcoVadis Gold rating, placing it in the top 5 percent of globally rated businesses for sustainability performance.

With consecutive years of strong financial performance, Nynas indicated it continues to monitor debt capital markets to optimise its capital structure “at the appropriate time potentially”.

The Swedish chemicals producer noted that, having ceased operations in the United States in 2022, it remains largely insulated from recent global trade tensions surrounding US import tariffs. The company imports only minimal feedstock from America, shielding it from potential cross-border trade disputes.