Rolling Resistance

Central to the cost of truck hauling is the concept of rolling resistance.

Generally expressed as a percentage of a truck’s weight, rolling resistance is the force that resists the rolling of a wheel or other circular object along a surface caused by deformations in the object and/or the surface. An example of the effects or by-products of rolling resistance is the generation of heat and sound.

The table below (Carvill, 1989) shows example rolling resistances for pneumatic tyres on various road surfaces. The application provides a default value of 0.03 to new segment codes as a working average.

Drive Surface	Rolling Resistance
New Asphalt/Concrete	0.01 (1%)
Worn Asphalt/Concrete	0.02
Rolled New Gravel	0.01
Loose Worn Gravel	0.04
Medium Hard Soil	0.08
Sand	0.1 – 0.2

Carvill, J. (1993): Mechanical Engineer’s Data Handbook