Tubeless solutions on the horizon

The future of tyres will be affected by various outside influences. Price rears its ugly head again, especially bearing in mind the recent news that tyre prices will increase further due to the high costs of natural rubber used in production.

Another topical issue is that of tyre disposal, which is becoming more of a talked about factor in some countries. “Manufacturers need to work with terminals to find solutions to this issue,” says the DP World spokesman.

“Introducing technology (RFID or similar) that is embedded in tyres to identify pressure, serial number, and the ability of convenient storage and retrieval would go a long way to ensuring safety and long tyre life.”

In terms of future advancements, Mr Evans says that tyre technology is now rapidly advancing towards tubeless tyre solutions – whereas in the last decade, tube-type tyres had almost been eliminated in passenger cars, 4×4 tyres and also in truck tyres.

“Tubeless tyres have been proved to be more cost-efficient, safe and fuel-efficient. Owing to these factors, tubeless tyres may become a future standard option in all ports very soon.”