Rubber The rubber tree was given the name “weeping wood” by the indigenous people of South America. Rubber is made from the milky white sap called latex that flows from the tree’s bark when cut. It is hard to imagine land transport without rubber. As long ago as the mid-nine teenth century, Queen Victoria’s carriage had rubber tires. Mo- dern vehicle tires are high-tech products made from ingenious combinations of materials, with cleverly designed treads and a highly complex internal struc ture. Sustainability is an increas ingly important focus of the sophisticated development process. It encompasses both climate-neutral production as aspired to by tire manufacturer Continental, and the use of recycled materials and novel rubber types made from birch bark or dandelion. Like the rubber tree, dandelions are a member of the spurge family. A truck tire’s lifetime varies depending on the vehicle and how it is driven, but it is usually about a million kilometers (621,300 miles). When the tread is worn, the tire can be regrooved. But regrooved tires can only be used on the drive axle, not on the steer- ing axle. Tire manufacturer Continental is the exclusive supplier to Gebrüder Weiss.
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