Tin Thanh Group is well-known in Vietnam for its saturated steam production for industries such as food processing, rubber, paper production, packaging, and textiles.

Groundbreaking ceremony for Tin Thanh Group’s tyre filling, recycling, and lubricant production plant in South Carolina in the United States

Currently, the company provides renewable energy to replace fossil fuels for more than 40 industrial plants. Brands such as SABECO, HABECO, Casumina, Hoa Sen Group, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Cholimex Food, Saigon and Long Thanh paper mills, and Hue Textile & Garments are using Tin Thanh’s technology.

Tran Dinh Quyen, chairman and CEO of Tin Thanh Group, is paying attention to developing a service package project to operate all-in trucks in the US that he and his associates have prepared over the past 15 years, with 20 patents already granted by Vietnam and the US.

“In March, we broke ground on a tyre retread, tyre recycling, and lubricant production plant in South Carolina. The ceremony was attended by the governor of South Carolina, US ministers and congressmen, and the ambassador and commercial counsellor of Vietnam to the US,” Quyen said

Believing the new development to be a foundation for Tin Thanh’s investment strategy, construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2023, and operations will begin a year later.

In addition to tyre production, Tin Thanh Group also has a project to produce green hydrogen with an annual capacity of 150,000 tonnes made from sorghum material with additional source of locally available biomass materials. The project has been approved and is eligible for investment incentives of $350 million over 20 years.

Tin Thanh Group and a major US partner will strategically cooperate with big carmakers around the world to supply hydrogen fuel for the vehicles that they are manufacturing, selling, and operating throughout the US. Additionally, it plans to work with more than 50 factories across the US for tyre retread outsourcing, as well as develop 2,000 mobile service stations related to all-in truck projects across the US.

Building perfection

“Tin Thanh’s strategy is to become a full-service business and pioneering company on the basis of our patents, and become a circular service chain that includes technology, industry, production, trade, and recycling,” said Quyen.

Specifically, an app called Ecore and a smart chip with more than 10 features will be unique benefits to the operation of the all-in truck service package. The outstanding features of the app are similar to the software used by airlines, including notifying the origin, pressure, temperature, speed, location, tyre wear and more. The vehicle owners can access the information anywhere if a mobile phone network is available.

Moreover, Tin Thanh has a fleet of mobile technical engineers for maintenance services and help can also be given in the case of a driver’s health issue.

The company will fill nitrogen instead of normal air in each tyre provided by its partner, at Tin Thanh’s 2,000 technical mobile stations in the US. Instead of air, pure nitrogen is filled in the tyres to add nine features beneficial to operation and use.

The lubricants that Tin Thanh provides, and is also produced at the tyre retread and tyre recycling factory, adding the group’s exclusive graphene super nano additive. Thanks to this additive, the life of the oil and engine will be greatly increased, in addition to significantly saving the fuel, which has been patented in the US.

Owner Quyen revealed that Tin Thanh is piloting these services in Vietnam and will carry out experimentation and testing in the US in the third quarter of this year. It is expected that in the fourth quarter, the company will start providing the services package to a partner with 1,000 container trucks and another one with 13,000 container trucks. The company is negotiating and possibly signing to provide services package to a truck union with 250,000 vehicles specialising in transporting goods for major companies in the US in the fourth quarter of 2023.

On April 13, the US ambassador to Vietnam and the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City visited and voiced support for the projects of Tin Thanh Group and King Coffee. After listening to my presentation in detail, the ambassador welcomed and reaffirmed that these are key initiatives for the two countries. After the meeting, I also presented details to the Vietnamese ambassador to the US and received supportive comments. He emphasised support for the development of the venture to balance two-way trade turnover. We are preparing a dossier on the projects and will submit it to stakeholders in this quarter. ‑ Tran Dinh Quyen Chairman and CEO, Tin Thanh Group

A true circular service

The biggest expectation that Tin Thanh sets forth during implementing the project is that operations are beneficial, useful and user-friendly for all. Especially, the company aims to reduce the total cost for vehicle owners by 5-10 per cent, and cut emissions by at least 50 tonnes of CO2 per year for a container truck.

“People currently spend about $3.10 per mile for a container truck in the US that runs more than 100,000 miles per year. Tin Thanh will drop that cost to less than $2.80 per mile for running more than 100,000 miles per year as well,” Quyen said. The vehicle owners will also enjoy 30 per cent of the revenues from a clean development mechanism for contributing to reducing carbon emissions.

When participating in the all-in service package, managers and drivers will enjoy benefits that are provided Tin Thanh only. For example, in addition to receiving salary and social benefits, they receive other services during the operation, healthcare at Tin Thanh’s stops, and can connect to technical stations which the vehicle owners can monitor carefully.

In addition, with a network of 2,000 technical mobile stations and links with other strategic partners of Tin Thanh, customers can easily find and use its services anywhere in the US. The social networking application developed by the company will connect and create a community including all users and customers using the company’s services.

Quyen has set a goal to reach one million container trucks using Tin Thanh’s services each year by 2028, and occupy 10-20 per cent of the market share of all-in service trucks in this country. After putting the project into operation, Quyen expects to build a circular service delivery ecosystem and create thousands of jobs. For example, the group can provide items for drivers such as water, snacks, and face wipes; coffee from partner King Coffee; other goods for vehicle operation such as tyres from Danang Rubber; and other products such as bearings, belts, electric batteries, electrical wires, copper pipes, and light bulbs for the vehicle. All products will be Vietnamese brand names.

Moreover, Tin Thanh could provide about 70,000 drivers and technical staff to fill the current shortage of more than 200,000 workers in the US transportation industry.

“Based on the great potential, we plan to enable these projects in order to further tighten trade ties and contribute to the balance of trade. This proposal has been strongly agreed and supported by many leaders of both countries,” said Quyen.

“This is such a large field related to numerous industries in which big players have gained market share for many years, such as Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Shell, and many more. However, with our technologies, services, and the strength of available raw materials, we are confident of competing and developing within the schedule set forth,” stated Quyen.