How are truck tyres and van tyres different?

Whether you drive a truck or a van, you often share the same road. But do you share the same tyres? We took a look at the similarities and differences between truck and van tyres. The results? You might be surprised!
Here’s Ana Gonzalez, Regional Truck Product Marketing Manager Michelin Europe and Sophie Mazelier-Gaillochet, Regional Van Product Marketing Manager, Michelin Europe to explain.

Ana Gonzalez, Regional Truck Product Marketing Manager Michelin Europe and Sophie Mazelier-Gaillochet, Regional Van Product Marketing Manager, Michelin Europe.

The differences between truck and van tyres

1 – Product segmentation

Product segmentation aims to cover all the needs of truck and van consumers.

2 – Vehicle configurations and the product offer

The goal is to find the best product for your vehicle's configuration, whether it's a truck or a van.

Retreading, which Michelin has offered since 1923, means reusing the casing and replacing the worn tread with a new one.
Regrooving means removing rubber from the existing rubber pad in order to provide new depth to the tread pattern and maintain grip longer.
These solutions are ideal for fleets that want to optimise operating costs and reduce their environmental footprint

4 – 3PMSF marking

The similarities between truck and van tyres

1 – Tyres developed with and for every user profile

For both truck and van tyres, Michelin has been getting customers involved as much as possible for decades, with feedback from the field, encounters, personal interviews, local dialog, surveys, and more to have customers, manufacturers, and dealers participate in designing and developing tyres that fully meet their expectations and new needs. That has driven the emergence of tailored solutions including damage-resistant treads for trucks that are mainly used on the road but also need to navigate off-road, reinforced sidewalls for vans in largely urban environments, and treads with extensive grooves and sipes for severe winter conditions.

2 – A growing tyre market

The truck and van tyre market has been growing steadily since 2015, reaching its highest point yet in 2021.

3 – Transformations toward an ecological transition

“Battery-powered electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles... Alternative fuels are booming, especially in urban areas. While alternative fuels’ share in bus fleets is increasing, when it comes to goods transportation, the move to switch to alternatives is being led by van fleet owners, particularly for last-mile deliveries,” says Sophie Mazelier-Gaillochet.

Michelin has taken that transformation into account. The goal: to create offers tailored for these types of vehicles.

4 – Very similar user expectations

Major expectations for tyres, truck customers vs. van customers

The top expectation varies from customer to customer. However, we can find van customers and truck customers with exactly the same key need :

- Mileage / cost per mile
- All-season mobility / to the last mm
- Robustness linked to usage (casing, sidewalls, tread, multi-life, etc.)
- TCO / Energy efficiency
- Sustainable mobility
- Safety

IN PRACTICE

1 – Determine how the tyre will be used (long distance, regional, urban, on-road, off-road, severe winter roads, etc.)
2 – Define the key need or expectation for the tyre (high mileage, energy efficiency, robustness).
3 – Choose the right tread based on the size / tyre position, use, and key expectation.
4 - Optimise your van tyre maintenance by following the practical tips from these two Michelin experts