At this year’s TMC show in New Orleans, Apollo Tire marked its second appearance with significant announcements: first, a National Accounts Program, and second, a comprehensive range of truck tires, aimed at regional and mixed to long haul applications.
The company’s entry into the line haul product segment is particularly noteworthy, noted Laurence Bennett, assistant vice president, commercial product lineup at Apollo Tires. The lineup includes steers, drives and trailers, with a stated focus on durability, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
“We’re very excited that we’re launching our line haul product along with our regional products,” he said while standing in the booth at the show. “With regards to the national account program, we’re quickly expanding our dealer network, which can help support that national account program and as well as the products and services in which they provide an offer.”
When Apollo announced that it was entering the North American commercial tire market, it noted that its truck tire lineup will ultimately include a full range of regional, super-regional, line-haul, bus and mixed-use applications, with fitments ranging from 17.5-24.5 in. The company also planned to have 13 SKUs released in 2021 with a total of 45 SKUs, covering 90% of the marketplace, that will be available by this year.
The EnduMile LH longhaul lineup was front and center in the Apollo tire booth, hot on the heels of last October’s announcement of its second generation of its EnduRace RA 2 truck tire for regional transport. That tire introduced a new tread design and uprated materials that the company says that the tire has been re-engineered to deliver an average 5% increase in mileage.
“Our steer tire EnduMile LH front, drive tire EnduMile LHD and trailer tire EnduMile LHT are now fully available to customers across the United States,” Bennett said. “Years of market research, product development and on-road field testing here in the United States have led to this moment where we can deliver a complete long-haul tire range for customers.”
Watch the video above for more sights and info from the Apollo booth at this year’s TMC.
No script? No plan? No problem. Welcome to Fleet Equipment Unscripted—the video interview series that connects you with the greatest minds in the heavy-duty trucking world. Fleet Equipment Unscripted is sponsored by Hendrickson.