Cost per hour, not cost per tire
A haul truck tire is one of the largest consumables on a site. It is also one of the few where the purchase price tells you almost nothing: two identical tires on the same machine can differ by thousands of hours depending on pressure, surface, speed, load and how quickly damage is caught.
That is why mining tire work is a program rather than an order. The parts that move the number are inspection, pressure and heat management, repair of damage while it is still repairable, and retreading of casings that still have structure in them. The tire itself is the smallest decision in the list.
What Purcell covers
Mining fleet services, at 13 locations in seven states, is the program: the equipment list, the service schedule, the inspection routine and the account behind it.
OTR services, at 41 locations in 11 states, is the field and shop work on off-highway tires: fitting, change-outs, and repairs on tires worth saving.
Wheel refurbishing, at 42 locations, returns damaged wheels to service. On equipment of this size that is frequently the difference between a repair and a capital purchase.
Retreading, through 54 locations and seven plants. Six of the seven plants list OTR casings among the tires they retread or repair, which matters more here than in any other part of the business, because the casing is where the money is.
24-hour roadside assistance, at 48 locations, for the trucks that move material and people to and from the site.
Tires for mines, quarries and plants
- OTR tires for haul trucks, loaders, dozers, graders and scrapers, carried at 55 locations.
- Industrial tires for material handling and plant equipment, carried at 52 locations.
- Tracks for tracked machines, carried at 51 locations.
- Commercial tires for the trucks running between the site and everywhere else, carried at 55.
Sizes on this equipment are specific and stock varies, so the first call should carry the machine, the size currently fitted, and what the tire is doing when it fails.