» SPECIAL REPORT
IRRESISTIBLE WRITTEN BY MICHELLE FISHER M
any roads can lead to the same destination, and no one knows this better than student transporters. Take, for example,
the EPA standards for greenhouse gases and NHTSA Corporate Average Fuel Econ- omy (CAFE) standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including school buses. Fleet managers may know about the
joint requirements to improve the envi- ronment while also reducing fuel con- sumption, but some aren’t aware the feds consider low-rolling resistance (LRR) tires an economical way to help meet the new standards. LRR tires, also called “energy tires,” improve fuel economy by reducing the amount of fuel needed to move the vehicle forward, according to the federal agencies. In September 2011, NHTSA joined EPA
in releasing medium- and heavy-duty vehicle standards that call for vocational vehicles like buses and delivery trucks to improve fuel economy by 10 percent by model year 2018. Tis equates to about one gallon of fuel per 100 miles. Editor's note: For more informa- tion, visit
www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy. Industry veteran Robert Pudlewski,
STN’s technical editor, said even though the school bus OEMs are ultimately responsible for meeting CAFE standards, student transporters still need to be aware of them. Pudlewski, who spent 40 years
40 School Transportation News July 2013
LOW-ROLLING RESISTANCE TIRES GAIN IN SCHOOL- BUS INDUSTRY AS FEDERAL STANDARDS TIGHTEN
at Laidlaw Transit and then First Student (FirstGroup acquired Laidlaw in 2007) as vice president of fleet operations before retiring, said tire costs change every month, so it is hard to pinpoint whether OEMs or school-bus operators are spend- ing more on tires. “Te commodity prices drive up the cost of tires, so it’s not uncommon for tire manufacturers to see prices go up and down several times a year,” he said. While energy tires may be an easy way to meet the federal requirements, awareness seems to vary widely, with some school bus workers just now learning about this technology. Mario Garcia, vehicle mainte- nance supervisor at Orange Unified School District in Southern California, said he had yet to learn about energy tires. But he noted he is well aware of the EPA emissions standards. To that end, he stressed it is “very, very important” to properly maintain air pressure in all bus tires. “Te key thing is preventive mainte- nance to keep them running as efficiently as possible. We check air pressure every 30 days, and turn them into the PM program we have,” said Garcia. Because tires are a “huge chunk” of the
budget, he said he is grateful the California Air Resources Board’s Lower-Emission School Bus Program offers tires at a discount
rate, which allows the district to buy in bulk. “When we are done using the tire mini-
mum-wear limits, we turn in the tire to get recapped,” he added. Te EPA SmartWay program also certifies
LRR recaps, or retreads, because as with the LRR tires, this technology can reduce NOx emissions and fuel use by 3 percent or more. Mike Ocque, president of the New York
State Head Mechanics Association and lead mechanic at Lyons Central School District, said he has been using LRR tires and retreads for about eight years. “I heard about these tires by word of mouth and did research before changing over. Once I switched, the benefits were great — it’s low-rolling resistance, tough, great on fuel and great value for price as far as being dependable,” he said. “I’ve realized probably at least a 5- to 8-percent increase in fuel mileage since then.” He described the level of interest in LRR
tires as “pretty average” among association members. “In the past five years, there’s been more talk about low-rolling resistance tires, and the interest comes from fuel economy itself,” Ocque explained. “But a third of any vehi- cle’s fuel economy is related to driver skills and behavior. If you took out the human factor, it would be consistent, but in reality, it’s not.”
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