After a soft launch in 2019, the official, market wide launch of Continental’s three new radial tyres for port applications – the StraddleMaster R, ContainerMaster R, and ContiRT20 – in the Middle East and Africa has been delayed to Q1 2021 due to the COVID-19 crisis. The three new radial port tyres are suitable for vehicles travelling long distances, typically in load & carry applications on a large port, such as heavy forklift trucks, empty container handlers, reach stackers, straddle carriers and terminal tractors.
On the bright side, the current situation has given Continental an extension to its pilot testing phase with customers in the region.
Hamzeh Afaneh, head of marketing & sales – sub-region Middle East/Africa, Commercial Specialty Tires, Continental Tires, says: “We have utilized this period to conduct more tests with these tyres under different operating conditions unique to this region, mainly extreme heat and pressure. As a result, we have a better understanding of the specific operational requirements of our customers and how we need to customize the tyres to suit them. The feedback from customers has been positive, particularly the lower total cost of ownership achieved by using our new port tyres.”
Continental’s radial tyres feature a single steel body construction: the sidewall and tread work independently of each other, which makes the contact patch stiffer and wider with a more even distribution on the ground surface. This ensures an improved traction and braking behaviour as well as a more even tread wear when transporting containers over longer distances from one location to another. Furthermore, radial tyres minimise heat generation, and a flat tread contour ensures a high level of endurance and mileage over longer distances.
Hamzeh Afaneh, head of marketing & sales – sub-region Middle East/Africa, Commercial Specialty Tires, Continental Tires.
“The applications of radial tyres depend on the environmental conditions at ports and the advancements in port handling equipment. We expect significant demand from this sector due to the restructuring and expansion of ports in the region, including dry ports, which are expanding their container handling capacities and upgrading their equipment,” says Afaneh.
The ContiRT20 has been developed for the requirements of empty container handlers and heavy forklift trucks used in port and industrial applications. When loading and unloading containers, traction on all kinds of surfaces is important. The tyre design therefore features a high number of multiple tread edges offering a good grip and high mileage performance. The large robust tread blocks are linked with tie bars to provide tread stability with less vibration and a stable delivery of tractive forces. Tyre life is maximized due to the tread compound with a high resistance to abrasive wear. The tyres are available in 24” sizes: 12.00 R 24 and 14.00 R 24.
The ContainerMaster R is an all-round tyre that can be used in both pick & stack and load & carry applications. With its open shoulder design and deep tread depth, the tyre performs best on heavy forklifts, reach stackers and loaded container handler/top Loaders, where a high tyre mileage and lifetime is important. With its multiple steel belt construction and deep u-shaped tread grooves, the tyre ejects stones and foreign objects from port surfaces increasing resistance to damage that can cause punctures. This effect is enhanced with the innovative tread compound with a high resistance to tread cracking leading to increased durability.
The StraddleMaster R has been developed for the requirements of straddle and shuttle carriers operating in load & carry applications. The central tyre rib and the closed shoulder ensure longitudinal driving and cornering stability resulting in a high driver comfort and steering precision which is needed when transporting containers over longer distances in ports. The tyre is ideally suited even in wet conditions: Due to the deep wide longitudinal tread grooves, water is dissipated quickly to ensure that traction is maintained. The tread compound ensures a low heat build-up and reduced wear in higher speed and longer distance applications. This leads to an increased lifetime and endurance of the tyre.
All the three models will come with factory-installed tyre sensors that measure inflation pressure and tyre temperature, simplifying pressure maintenance to increase the overall lifetime of the tyre and allowing customers to avoid tyre-related downtimes.
Material handling is one of the three main product categories of the Continental Commercial Specialty Tyres (CST) business division, with the other two being earthmoving and agriculture. The CST business includes digital tyre monitoring and management systems such as ContiConnect, ContiPressureCheck, and ContiLogger.
Sales in the earthmoving category has been affected with the recent slowdown in construction activity. However, product development for this sector is in full swing. Next year, Continental will launch the E5/L5 versions of its EM-Master range of earthmoving off the road (OTR) tyres. The company also plans to introduce a new range of cross-ply tyres for earthmoving equipment under its General Tire brand.
“We cannot stop developing new tyres for construction applications because when this sector revives, there’ll be increased demand for more sizes and new specifications. Generally, demand is shifting toward radial tyres in all segments. That said, certain customers continue to use cross-ply tyres for skid-steer and wheel loader applications. That’s why we will offer radial, cross-ply an v.ply tyres to meet all customer needs. The new range of General Tire cross-ply tyres will cover several sizes, and we hope to launch them in 2021,” says Afaneh.
“We also have long-term plans to launch new tyres for mining equipment and expand the number of sizes, beyond the 51- and 49-inch models that are hugely successful in the Middle East. In the truck and bus category, there’s high competition among premium and budget brands. Here we differentiate ourselves with digital solutions for fleet management,” he adds.
As companies all over the world accelerate their digitalization efforts in response to the COVID-19 crisis, Continental is building on its expertise in mobility and interconnected services and combining tyres with data analytics to help customers optimize their operations. While the ContiConnect and ContiPressureCheck tools enable digital tyre monitoring for single vehicles and fleets, the ContiLogger service offers individual consulting to OTR customers to help them reduce their operating costs through field studies and on-site data analysis.
Afaneh points out that Continental has embraced the new normal and the digital transformation necessary for the post-COVID era.
“Every tyre or digital tool we develop is aimed at helping customers tackle their operational challenges, manage fleets better and reduce the total cost of ownership. With the ContiLogger service, we are now able to analyze customer sites and operating conditions thoroughly and direct our R&D department to customize products accordingly. Currently, we offer ContiLogger in the Middle East as a support tool without any additional cost to the customer. In future, we will offer it as a consulting service that includes recommendations and solutions to optimize fleets. We are open to partnerships with telematics providers to provide integrated fleet management solutions so that the customer benefits from having a single dashboard to monitor all parameters,” says Afaneh.
