From Altamont Press:
Never mind rail transport problems; Tire shortage causes problems for coal mines
Coal mining companies in the Powder River Basin in northeast Wyoming are maneuvering to get around a worldwide shortage of tires for heavy equipment.
The shortage is widely attributed to increasing demand from U.S. and international mining operations for tires, industry officials said.
Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have added to the strain on the tire market, said Jim Davis, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. spokesman. “The shortage is affecting everybody throughout the (tire) industry,” he said.
Drivers and mechanics at Wyoming mines are getting instructions intended to extend the life of off-the-road tires used on the giant dump trucks used to haul overburden and coal. Companies are also scrambling to make up the shortage through deals with suppliers, which are so tightly strapped that at least one mine has had to idle some of its trucks in recent weeks.
But the shortage has also affected the tire dealers.
Local tire dealer Cobre Tires has seen sales drop $2.5 million to $3 million from last year, manager Brian Jorgenson said. Cobre usually carries about 40 tires in inventory but since the beginning of the year has only had about 10, he said.
“I know there are some mines that are down to one or two tires at times, and there’ll be times when you’ll go without any spares,” Jorgenson said last week.
Kennecott is working with drivers, managers and executives to come up with ways to increase the life of the tires, which cost about $20,000 a piece new and can fetch upward of $40,000 in a highly competitive used tire market, spokesman Dallas Scholes said.
The goal is to increase tire life from about 5,000 hours to 9,000 hours, he said.
The company has emphasized that drivers take precautions like watching for sharp rocks, reducing speed and keeping tires properl