Vacu-Lug meets tire requirements at steel works operation

ERJ staff report (PR)

Grantham, UK – Remould and earthmover tire company Vacu-Lug has highlighted its support activities for the UK operation of a global provider of on-site logistics and environmental services for the metals, mining and energy industries.

The Grantham-based company is supplying the tires for a number of Kress slab carriers, which make up the heavy end of the unnamed customer’s 70-strong vehicle fleet operating from a steel works in Wales.

Operating around the clock, the carriers transport steel slabs within the steel production plant which, together with its sister plant elsewhere in Wales, is capable of producing upwards of 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum.

The carriers are fitted with front 37.25-35 and rear 4000x57 Yokohama premium tyres, each of which is supported by a ‘cradle-to-grave’ inspection and reporting process carried out by Vacu-Lug. The carriers have a GVW approaching 250 tonnes and each rear tire, partly filled with water to compensate for the load stress, weighs around 2 tonnes.

Monthly inspections determine wear and check for sidewall injuries and general damage, with tread depths monitored and hours registered. This way, Vacu-Lug said it can advise the customer of the precise cost per hour to run each tire throughout its working life, which on average is about 2,500 hours on front tires and 5,000 on the larger rear tires.

Tyre replacement requirements are forecast three months in advance and this is made possible by extrapolating the collected data from each tire, the company added.

“This is a high-maintenance operation by any use of the term” said Billy Dillon, Vacu-Lug’s sales manager for earthmover tires. “Down time for any operation must be kept to an absolute minimum and with equipment of this type, considering the cost implications, it is imperative.”

The arrangement with Yokohama, enables Vacu-Lug to provide exactly the right tires for the job, while the company invests much time and effort into the lifetime monitoring of every earthmover and Industrial tire, continued Dillion.

“This way, our customers maintain a tight control on costs and the ability to accurately forecast replacement schedules,” the sales manager concluded.