The challenges of agricultural logistics – ALLIANCE provides a game-changing tire solution

October 11, 2019

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The new Alliance 398 MPT is the first agricultural tire to drive up to 100 km/h on the road. Combining the best features of an off- and on-road tire, it changes the whole concept of agricultural transportation, allowing the trucks to go directly into the field and then back on the road.

Nowadays agricultural businesses are challenged by a wide range of transport and logistics tasks. Operations are becoming larger and distances between the plots and other destinations (warehouses, processing sites, various plants and factories) are Increasing.

Trucks – a preferred choice in agricultural transportation

Agriculture has now become one of the largest transport users. In Germany alone, farmers transport by road more than five hundred million tons of goods annually over a distance of 4 to 90 km on average. This number is now bigger than the transport volumes of the German Federal Railways.

Therefore, the transportation by trucks is becoming more and more customary. There are good reasons for this, especially for the trips requiring longer portions of driving on paved roads and highways. A truck is significantly more fuel-efficient than a tractor-trailer set up, it creates less noise and inconveniences for other road users and less burden for the environment, not to mention a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) of the fleet.

In Agricultural business, an ideal efficient machine should function properly both in the field and on the road. So far, this duality was impossible to achieve within the same vehicle: tractors are perfect for the field operations but poor on the road, and trucks – vice versa. In many agricultural logistic operations, the problem arises precisely at the interface between a road and a field.

Problem area: the edge of the field

Trucks, known as on-road vehicles, cannot drive directly into the field, so they wait at its edge to be loaded with the agricultural goods for the further transportation. This is where the disruption and loss of performance of the entire transport chain happens. In the field, tractor-based transport systems are mostly still required – for example for transferring cereals or sugar beets from the harvester to the piles in the field close to the road. This has considerable negative consequences in terms of high idle times and an additional expensive step in the logistic chain because of the transfer processes.

Trucks with sprayers are not able to go into the field

Trucks are loaded with the agricultural goods for the further transportation

In the field, tractor-based transport systems are mostly still required

No transfer issues anymore

But this may now become a problem of the past. Because Alliance has developed an innovative tire concept that turns a truck into an agricultural machine being able to work properly in the field. From now on, a truck equipped with special tires – Alliance 398 MPT, can drive directly into the field to e.g. collect harvested crops without any additional overloading or field-storage and perform all logistic operations without idle waits on the edge.

And that is not all. The new agricultural logistics system “powered by” Alliance’s latest tire technology provides not only the outstanding performance in the field. On the road too, the tire allows a truck to play to its accustomed strengths and transport at a speed of 80 to even 100 km/h.

This innovative tire development unlocks a new logistic concept in agriculture. In many cases, field transfer vehicles, so much used nowadays, can be completely substituted by an agricultural truck equipped with the appropriate tires.

Thus, trucks adapted for the use in farming will be able to play to their strengths in their transportation role more than ever. As a rule, semitrailer trucks with trailers especially constructed for agriculture come into use here. Currently, there are semitrailer trucks and chassis with rear-wheel drive in normal and medium build, or four-wheel drive trucks with high build and selectable or permanent front-wheel drive.

A truck equipped with special tires – Alliance 398 MPT, can drive directly into the field to collect harvested crops

On the road too, the tire allows a truck to play to its accustomed strengths and transport at a speed of 80 to even 100 km/h.

Alliance 398 Multi-Purpose Tire for agricultural and forestry applications

Alliance 398 MPT changes the whole concept of modern agricultural transportation.  Built for a perfect traction, best soil protection and high load capacity in the field, and a speed of up to 100 km/h and excellent stability on the road, the tubeless Alliance 398 MPT is a premium tire that saves cycles, time, machines and manpower in both agricultural and forestry operations.

With Alliance 398 MPT and often an optional Central Tire Inflation System (CTIS), the inflation pressure can be smoothly reduced in the field to a minimum of 0.8 bar. On the road, however, a maximum inflation pressure of 6.5 bar is applied, delivering up to 100 km/h speed with excellent road grip, low heat build-up, low vibrations and a low noise level along with excellent stability and safety.

Trucks equipped with these effective flotation tires can be used in forestry, too. The tires deliver impressive traction and flotation and allow access to the logging sites even via extremely muddy, uneven or loose field and forest roads in all seasons. Back on the road, the 398 MPT shows excellent self-cleaning characteristics and allows for quick transfers towards different destinations or between remote forestry sites.

Recognized innovation

Alliance 398 MPT is a winner of Agritechnica Innovation Award Silver Medal 2019.