March 28, 2007 — Accuride Corp. has introduced Accu-Lite steel wheels, new designs it says are the lightest available version of the industry-standard, two- and five-hand hole 22.5 by 8.25-in. designs. Each wheel weighs eight pounds less than Accuride's previous industry-standard steel wheels: the two-hand hole Accu-Lite weighs 70 lb, and the five-hand hole design weighs 68 lb.

"Accu-Lite's eight pounds of weight reduction per wheel translates to a savings of at least 144 pounds for tractor/trailer combinations," stated Accuride senior vice president-Sales and Marketing Larry Taylor. "When you compare the weight savings of Accu-Lite to the competition, the competition doesn't offer comparative savings. Accu-Lite is 11 lbs. lighter than domestic competitors and anywhere from 14 to 23 lbs. lighter than overseas competitors."

Accuride Wheels is a business unit of Accuride Corp., North America's largest manufacturer and supplier of heavy- and medium-duty trucks and commercial trailer wheels. Accuride Corp. produces commercial vehicle components, including commercial vehicle wheels, wheel-end components and assemblies, truck body and chassis parts, seating assembliess, and others. Its products are marketed under its brand names that include Accuride, Gunite, Imperial, Bostrom, Fabco, and Brillion.

"We are committed to designing premium products to serve as solutions for our customers," Taylor stated. "As new emission standards are resulting in weight being added to vehicles, we knew our customers needed an easy solution for counterbalancing the added weight. We designed Accu-Lite wheels as a weight reduction solution for our customers so that they could maximize payload and fuel savings without reducing load ratings."