10/22/2010

Rob Arbeiter Report - Fleet Manager

This information is based on the actual results Southern Illinois Motor Xpress trucking has experienced since beginning the tire program with AmerSeal Premium Heavy Duty Tire Sealant beginning in November 2008. It is very difficult to give an exact figure of the total savings AmerSeal has given Southern Illinois Motor Xpress. It has saved us considerable expenditures in areas that are really not tire related. These savings I call down the food chain savings. They are directly related to our use of AmerSeal even though they are not truly part of our tire budget. These savings include such things as less shop time needed to replace parts on our trucks like fenders, light boxes, mud flaps and mud flap brackets, air bags, air lines, and hose tubes that are damaged when a tire separates or blows out. These down the food chain savings alone were $ 35,000.00 to $ 40,000.00 dollars last year, compared to previous years when we were not using AmerSeal. The savings we get in this area alone more than pays for the total cost of AmerSeal treatment for our entire fleet. Now I will address the savings we receive by using AmerSeal that is directly related to our tire budget. 1. Before starting our tire program using AmerSeal tire sealant our cost per mile for tires was 5.2 per mile. As of the starting of the AmerSeal program our cost per mile has been reduced to 2.8 per mile on virgin tires and 3.2 per mile on recapped tires. This is a savings per mile of 46% on virgin tires and 38.5% on recapped tires. 2. Our fuel savings is also dramatic. Before we started using AmerSeal our trucks were running 5.8 mpg. Since we began using AmerSeal, due to running properly inflated tires because AmerSeal maintains our tire pressures, we now average 6.2 mpg. From 5.8 mpg to 6.2 mpg is an increase of 6.5% in fuel economy. With our fuel budget of several million dollars per year this is a tremendous benefit to Southern Illinois Motor Xpress. For every million dollars we spend on fuel we figure our savings, strictly due to the use of AmerSeal, to be $ 65,000.00. 3. AmerSeal also helps to keep the tires running considerably cooler. AmerSeal in the tires not only helps maintain proper air pressure which helps the tires run cooler, the chemical make- up of AmerSeal helps in heat dissipation out of the tires. We are now basically running liquid cooled tires. The savings this gives us shows up in the value of

the tire casings. Since beginning the AmerSeal treatment we are not seeing the separations in the tires we use to experience, which was caused by heat build-up in the tires. Also, the casings will stand for more re-caps simply because they have been run cooler and properly inflated. 4. Savings on tire wear. Before using AmerSeal our steer tires needed to be replaced at 80,000 to 85,000 miles. Since starting the AmerSeal program our steer tires are lasting 110,000 to 120,000 miles. Before using AmerSeal our drive tires needed to be replaced at 190,000 to 210,000 miles. Since starting the AmerSeal program our drive tires are lasting 240,000 to 260,000 miles. Again, we can only attribute this increase in tire life to the addition of the AmerSeal treatment. The savings on tire wear is a minimum of 20% and a maximum of 33.4%. When you consider truck tires that can cost hundreds of dollars this is a tremendous savings. 5. Savings on tire repair and downtime reduction. Since beginning the use of AmerSeal we have decreased flat tires by 85%-90%. When you take into consideration that a tire repair, on the roadside, costs $ 115.00 to $ 125.00 this represents a considerable savings to us. CSA, (Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010), federal law only allows a driver to work 14 hours straight. Therefore, if one of our drivers has a flat tire and it takes several hours to get it fixed or replaced the driver has to take those hours out of the 14 hours he/she is allowed to be driving. In other words if it takes 2 hours to get a flat tire repaired the driver is only allowed 12 hours of driving that day. If it takes 4 hours the driver is allowed 10 hours of driving, and, so on. There have been times when one of our drivers could have made it home in the 14 hours allotted. However, because of a flat tire, and the time it took to repair or replace it, the driver would exceed the 14 hour limit. So, we have another night out on the road and the expense of that, plus the fact that the driver has to arrive at home the next day, rather than start another profitable haul. Once again it is very difficult to calculate the savings AmerSeal gives us in this area, but it is definitely another way AmerSeal saves Southern Illinois Motor Xpress money. We mark our tires by shrinking electrical tubing over the valve stem. This allows us to know which tires have been treated and need to be treated with AmerSeal. We also have our tires recapped at Cross Midwest in St. Louis Missouri which is a Bandag re-capper. We do, when possible, rinse the AmerSeal out of the tires with water before they are sent for recapping. However, Cross Midwest will rinse it out for us if needed. We use several name-brands of tires, for instance, Michelin, and Goodyear, at this time we have more Yokahama tires in service than any other brand, mainly due to Yokahamas response on tire warranties. All the information in this report is true and accurate to my knowledge, and I am an unpaid endorser of AmerSeal Premium Heavy Duty Tire Sealant.
___________________________ Rob Arbeiter Fleet Manager Southern Illinois Motor Xpress Inc. DATE: _________

Oct. 2010