Yokohama Tire Corporation to Debut 101ZL Commercial Tire at the Mid-America Trucking Show

FULLERTON, February 23, 2010: Continuing to produce high-tech products to help fleet owners’ and operators’ bottom line, Yokohama Tire Corporation announced the latest tire to its Zenvironment™ line, the 101ZL™ commercial tire.

The eco-sensitive 101ZL, which will debut in booth 14124 at the upcoming Mid-America Trucking Show, March 25-27 at the Kentucky Expo Center, Louisville, Kentucky, is a new, premium long-haul steer tire, that, according to John Cooney, Yokohama director of commercial sales, “runs longer, and is more trouble-free and efficient than anything we’ve ever brought to the market. The 101ZL provides at least a 10-percent increase in overall tread life and significant resistance to irregular wear.”

The tire has been added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay list of verified technologies for tires. Yokohama now has seven tires that are recognized as SmartWay “low rolling resistance tires.”

The 101ZL features “incredible durability, excellent longevity and remarkable fuel efficiency,” said Cooney. “It’s the perfect addition to our Zenvironment line, which uses cutting-edge technology to produce truck tires that last longer and are more fuel efficient, thus helping to protect the environment.”

The other tires in Yokohama’s Zenvironment line are the 703ZL™, 103ZR™ and 501ZA™.

The 101ZL will be available in October 2010 in these four sizes: 295/75R22.5, 11R22.5, 11R24.5 and 285/75R24.5. Highlights of the tire include:

-- Zenvironment construction, which controls casing growth and greatly reduces strain energy in the shoulder and bead areas for low rolling resistance and better fuel efficiency.

-- Contact pressure equalizer sipes that optimize rib contact pressure to resist uneven wear and improve wet weather braking and handling.

-- Stress equalizer ribs that increase road contact at the shoulder’s edge, which is ideal for withstanding step-down wear.

-- Serpentine grooves which add rigidity to the shoulder for greater tear resistance.

-- Multiple sipes that create an ideal footprint for optimal rib edge contact pressure that helps to eliminate irregular wear.

The 101ZL joins the 103ZR and RY617™ steer tires, RY587™ and RY587MC2™ trailer tires, and 703ZL and TY517MC2™ drive tires as products that are verified for use on SmartWay-certified trucks. The tires meet the SmartWay program’s tough verified low rolling resistance criteria, which include running cooler and helping to reduce fuel consumption, which in turn cut costs and benefit the environment.

SmartWay Transport, a collaboration between the EPA and the freight sector, is designed to improve energy efficiency and energy scrutiny, and reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions.

Yokohama is also a “Partner” in the SmartWay program, with status in the “shippers” category. This designation means Yokohama ships more than 50 percent of its products on SmartWay-designated transport carriers.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in the United States, Yokohama Tire Corporation is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., a global manufacturing and sales company of premium tires since 1917. Servicing a network of more than 4,500 points of sale in the U.S., Yokohama Tire Corporation is a leader in technology and innovation. The company’s complete product line includes the dB Super E-spec™ - the world’s first tire to use orange oil to reduce petroleum – as well as tires for high-performance, light truck, passenger car, commercial truck and bus, and off-the-road mining and construction applications. For more information on Yokohama’s extensive product line, visit www.yokohamatire.com.

Yokohama is a strong supporter of the tire care and safety guidelines established by the Rubber Manufacturers Association and the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration. Details can be found at the “Tire Safety” section at www.yokohamatire.com.