Goodyear: Helping Florida Power & Light generate savings, efficiency, and uptime

When you're a lineman on a Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) crew, you're always looking up in life. Up at power lines. Up at utility poles. So you're thankful for Glenn Martin, whose job it is to look out below and make sure the truck you're driving can pull through that hash of sand, clay, and sawgrass between you and the next power pole.

Martin is FPL’s manager of fleet maintenance and operations, and he sends more than 1,100 medium-duty trucks into the field every day. FPL, based in Juno Beach, is one of the largest investor-owned electric utilities in the country, providing power to 4.2 million customers in more than half of Florida. The territory strings together the entire east coast of the state and about half of the west coast, a vast area of glades, savannahs, and soft ground punctuated by the hard pavement of big cities like Miami and Daytona.

No matter where they go, Martin says, the trucks have one basic function: to carry crews and equipment to a work site so they can keep the lights on. They have to be ready to respond.

But in Florida, jobsites are like cabbage palms; no two are exactly alike.

"Our tire program reflected that," Martin says. "We have 15 garages all over the state that service the fleet, plus some smaller garages, and each one was making decisions about which tires and tread designs our trucks should have.

"Tires are our number-one vehicle maintenance cost, and we needed more control over it. We had to be more consistent."

The need became apparent in August and September 1992 amid the devastation left by Hurricane Andrew, which pounded Florida with sustained, 145-mile-an-hour winds. Facing obliterated poles, wires, and transformers, repair crews gathered at staging areas in south Florida and then fanned out to restore electricity to more than 1.4 million households in five counties.

In Dade County, where the storm was at its worst, the winds shook loose  road signs from their mounting posts and sent them cartwheeling into the air, leaving behind a steel nub sticking three inches out of the ground. "You wouldn't notice one of these stubs until you ran over it and punched a hole in your tire," Martin says. "We lost a ton of tires that way."

With so many FPL trucks from all over the state concentrated and being serviced in a small area, it was a challenge finding exact replacements for punctured tires. "We had 1,000 trucks in one place and it seemed at times like every one had its own mix of tires," Martin says.

When you're a large operation like FPL, the best way to help control costs is to standardize as much as possible, says Steve Bass, Goodyear's region fleet manager based in Fort Lauderdale.

"It's a balancing act to find those select tires and tread designs that will handle a wide variety of operating conditions for a reasonable cost," he says. "But when your job is to keep the lights on, you don't want to feel like your choice is a compromise."

And tires are only part of the equation, Bass notes. Garage locations, retreading, and the responsiveness of the people servicing your tires have to be consistent, too.

"GOODYEAR HELPS US CHOOSE THE RIGHT TIRE"

Martin says FPL "wanted to run with Goodyear across the fleet," noting the company's long-time satisfaction with Goodyear product and service not only on its medium trucks, but on the nearly 2,500 light-duty vehicles and trailers in the FPL stable.

"We knew we could rely on our Goodyear representative to help us choose the right tires for what we do," Martin says.

Most of FPL trucks carry equipment to a job site and then sit and work for most of the day. Other trucks are involved in what Martin calls restoration service, where power crews travel from house to house to fix problems on the service line to the home. "It's a lot of low-speed starts and stops," Martin says. "They drive a short distance, stop for 30 minutes or so, and drive again."

In either case, the vehicles are close to their rated weight capacity of 33,000 or 27,500 pounds.

"First, we want a tire that would get the equipment to the pole without getting stuck," says Martin. "Second, we want to get the most life out of the tire for the cost. Our goal is to retread everything on the rears at least twice, using Goodyear retreads because they match the performance we get from the new tread design and compound. So we need a high-quality casing."

Bass's recommendation focused on two all-position tires: Goodyear G149 RSAs for two-wheel-drive vehicles in on-the-road service, and, since its introduction in July 2004, Goodyear G287 MSAs for new four-wheel-drive trucks.

"The G149's deep, 20/32-inch tread design, simple rib pattern, and strong, stiff belt wire give you a consistent footprint on pavement," Bass says. "The result is more even wear and less scrub and a lot of confidence on wet roads. As for stones and other debris, the tire has penetration protectors in the grooves to guard against damage. 

New four-wheel-drive trucks come with Goodyear's G287 MSA tire, now being cycled into service to replace FPL’s Goodyear G186s. "Glenn wants more miles to removal and a wide footprint for traction. The 287 balances long life and fuel economy with a tire that's going to get you in and out of jobs without getting stuck."

Transmission line trucks that spend most of their time off-road are equipped with Goodyear G244 MSD drive tires. Its construction and specialized tread compounds protect against punctures while lowering running temperatures for increased highway mileage and casing life.

"So now the medium-duty trucks are standard on three original tires, plus two tread designs within the Next-Tread Goodyear retread program," Bass says. "Using state-of-the-art G TRACS software, we're managing casings more efficiently and cost-effectively."

CONSISENT SERVICE ACROSS THE GOODYEAR NETWORK

To make sure the tires receive the attention they need, FPL uses 15 Goodyear service locations, a mix of Truckwise tire centers and Wingfoot commercial tire sales, service, and retread dealers.

"We handle all of our own maintenance except for tires," Martin says. "For us, service comes with the tires." Goodyear coordinates the inventory, special skills, equipment, and training.

Service contracts with local dealers ensure that tires are inspected every 90 days, and that information about tread depths and other conditions are collected regularly, analyzed, and reported to Martin. 

Bass uses the data to see if there are trends or concerns that may need to be addressed.

"Goodyear also provides tire service personnel at the staging areas we set up after bad storms," Martin says. "These guys get short notice and they're ready to go. When they're not servicing tires, they're pumping gas and doing other things to pitch in with the restoration effort. Even when we respond to storms out of state, in order to help out neighboring power companies, Goodyear will send a service team. 

"They understand that our productivity and ability to be responsive is critical. The lights don't go on without the trucks, and without the tires, the trucks don't roll."