Michelin's Durable Technologies' XDA5 drive tire was announced as this the 2008 recipient of the Truck Writers of North America's (TWNA's) Technical Achievement Award during TMC's 2008 Annual Meeting in Orlando earlier this month.

Doug Jones, Michelin's customer engineering support manager, accepted the award on behalf of Michelin. The award recognizes a product or service that exhibits technical innovation, has a wide applicability to the trucking industry, offers significant benefits to users and is widely available. Complete vehicles are not eligible, but individual components and systems are.
The XDA5 drive tire is molded in three dimensions. As the tire wears, the tread reveals new grooves and tread blocks, giving the tire a second life, self-regenerating to improve wet, worn traction.
According the Michelin, the self-regenerating tread can extend tread life by as much as 30 percent.
This year's selection committee consisted of: Paul Abelson, Road King & Land Line; Tom Berg, Heavy Duty Trucking; Eric Berard, Berard Communications; John Baxter, Randall-Reilly Publishing, Tom Gelinas, Fleet Equipment; and James Menzies, Truck News and Truck West.
Finalists for the award included: the Andersen Eco-Flap; ArvinMeritor's PinLoc System; EHS Industries' Galvanized Trailer; Michelin's Durable Technologies; Ruehl's Sturdy Steps; and Traction Technologies' Cinch.