What proportion of fuel consumption is attributable to the tires?

Fuel consumption is influenced by a variety of factors. In principle, there are 4 types of driving resistance that affect consumption:

Between 35% and 60% of fuel consumption is caused by rolling resistance. This value varies depending on the use and the number of tires. This is clearly an important starting point if you want to save money on increasingly expensive diesel.

Rolling resistance and axle position
The proportion of rolling resistance per axle position corresponds to the proportion of load weight per axle position (steer, drive and trailer). The trailer tires on a tractor-trailer offer the greatest savings potential.

What is rolling resistance?
Rolling resistance is the force that the rolling motion of the tire exerts on the road when travelling under load (deformation energy on tires and roads).

What can you do to minimize fuel consumption?
There are several ways of saving diesel: driving style, air conditioning and the correct engine calibration are just a few ideas.

To save fuel with your tires, the most important measures are to:

• Use low-rolling-resistance tires, like those which Continental engineers have been developing for years.
• Avoid underinflation (low tire inflation = high rolling resistance), e.g. through regular fleet checks, which Continental offers to all its customers.
• Stay within the axle geometry parameters so that the tires only roll and do not "slide" through skewing.Speed disproportionately increases rolling resistance.
• Make sure that you do not drive too fast. Rolling resistance, and consequently fuel consumption, is higher at higher average speeds because the tires rotate more frequently in a given time, i.e. the tires are more frequently deformed.