Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions, a division of Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, has announced that two of its pickup and delivery tires were approved for use on Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay-certified equipment.

The R260F and R250F all-position radials are designed to promote long tread life and low cost per mile in pickup and delivery, urban and regional hauling environments.

"This is a tremendous benefit for our customers participating in SmartWay," said Chris Hoffman, manager, TBR and Retread Product Marketing. "Until now, most tires approved for SmartWay-certified vehicles were long-distance radials, which aren't built for the high-scrub environments encountered by beverage hauling, package and parcel delivery, grocery, food service, and other P&D operations. Adding the R260F and R250F to the verified technology list allows SmartWay fleets to specify the right tire for the job."

The R260F, which has 22/32-inch tread depth, uses Bridgestone's patented Equalizer Rib structures to fight irregular wear and groove-bottom platforms to enhance retreadability. The R260F also has thick protector ribs on both sidewalls to fight curbing. Both sidewalls are ribbed, so if one set of protector ribs is worn away, the tire can be reversed on the wheel for continued protection.

Meanwhile, the R250F has straight-line grooves that promote traction and durable protector ribs on both sidewalls to fight damage from curbing, cuts and abrasions. The casing incorporates four steel belts with an all-steel casing ply for long life and retreadability.

"The R260F and R250F are California Air Resources Board (CARB) compliant too, which is great news for regional and P&D fleets running in California," said Hoffman.

More info: www.bandag.com