DuraSeal Technology Keeps Roll-Offs Rolling

If flat tires were lightning, then Lightning Disposal’s roll-off trucks could have easily been mistaken for lightning rods before it started using Goodyear tires with DuraSeal Technology.  

At the recommendation of its Wingfoot Commercial Tire sales representative Dan Moseley, the Eagan, Minn.-based construction waste hauler tested a set of Goodyear’s Unisteel G287 MSA tires with DuraSeal Technology on one of its roll-off trucks in 2006. During the test, which lasted several months, the company didn’t experience a single flat tire on that truck. Not one. Lightning Disposal owner Bob Nitti estimates that his company saved an average of about $900 per month in tire repair costs and another $350 per month in lost productivity while testing the DuraSeal tires on that one truck.

Now that the company has installed DuraSeal Technology tires on all 12 of its roll-off trucks, it reports that it’s saving, on average, about $60,000 a year on tire-related costs, Nitti says.*

Goodyear’s DuraSeal Technology is a gel-like, solvent-free compound built into the inner liner of the tire. It can instantly and consistently seal punctures up to 1/4-inch in the tread area, without the need to repair the tire until it is retreaded. This allows truck drivers to continue operating after a tire is punctured.

Because construction waste is littered with nails, broken porcelain from sinks and other bathroom fixtures, rebar and various other sharp objects that can puncture tires, construction waste sites can be hard on tires. The busy season for Lightning Disposal is usually from April 1 through the first snowfall or December 15, whichever comes first. This time of year can be particularly tough for Lightning Disposal as construction kicks into high gear. Before adopting DuraSeal Technology, it wasn’t uncommon for the company to have upwards of 25 flat tires needing repair each week, particularly in the summertime.  

Lightning Disposal transports and manages large roll-off dumpster containers for its clients. Construction companies, homebuilders and contractors, including roofing companies, represent about 90 percent of its business. Lightning Disposal also provides roll-off containers for residential customers with projects such as roofing or cleaning.

Lightning Disposal transports the containers using 12 roll-off trucks; 11 of them haul waste from commercial and residential demolition and construction sites to various construction waste landfills in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area. Each roll-off truck generally makes between six and 10 runs per day, about 275 miles daily. The company owns 1,000 containers ranging in size from 10 to 40 cubic yards.

“After I successfully testing the DuraSeal tire, I realized how important those tires would be to controlling my operating costs,” Nitti says. “So, I cleaned out Wingfoot Commercial Tire’s entire stock and placed an order for more. And before I took delivery of a new roll-off truck in 2007 to replace an older model, I had all of the tires that came with the truck replaced with DuraSeal  tires before it even left the dealer lot.

“Now that we have DuraSeals on all of our roll-off trucks, we don’t have to deal with flat tires (mostly from punctures) every week,” Nitti says. “I don’t fell like my company’s getting flattened by tire repair costs”

Nitti says the decrease in his tire repair bill gave his operation the much-needed ability to handle the additional costs that came as a result of record high diesel prices last summer.

“There are about 90 roll-off operations in the Twin Cities, and with the slowdown in our economy, we really need to hold on to the business we have,” he adds. “That $60,000 annual savings sure makes it easier to do that.”  

Nitti, who learned the waste hauling business from his father, George Nitti, attributes the success of his business to the company’s ability to provide on-time service for contractors and builders. On-time service is critical for construction companies, he says. If they have to wait for our trucks to get to their work sites, that means delays, which costs time and money, he adds.

“These DuraSeal tires mean that I can be confident our drivers will be there to pick up the construction debris at the times we promise,” he says.