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CheckPoint " found out that they have about a 90%
reduction in labor inspection time on checking
tire tread pressure and tread depth. "
" Tires are one of the biggest costs of fleets and
labor's a little scarce, so this really helps you focus
your efforts on the tires that have issues that were
identified by CheckPoint, " Crayne said.
Trucks can drive over the in-ground option
at 11 mph, though the aboveground version
requires a slower speed. Over one year, a U.S.
fleet piloted the technology at three facilities and
inspected 2 million tires, Crayne said. And in
2021, the solution has scanned 1.5 million tires
and detected 126,000 potentially costly issues,
according to Goodyear.
Manual inspections of tires can foster subjectivity,
and in some cases 'pencil whipping'-
completing the task quickly just to get through
it, according to Michael Bush, director of U.S. fleet
sales at UVeye, which makes the Artemis automated
tire inspection system.
" Our system is based on the combination of
artificial intelligence and machine learning and
computer vision, and then through those technologies
is able to understand what a normal tire
should look like, " Bush explained. " Through that
technology, when it sees tires that don't look like
that, and it has issues such as a cut, a bulge, a
chunk taken out of the tire, tread that either indicates
misalignment or that is of low tread depth,
the technology can identify-versus a standard
tire-this is not supposed to be there. "
This ensures each tire was inspected accurately
every time, and helps avoid roadside breakdowns
caused by tire failure.
" It takes the guesswork, the subjectivity, out of a
manual inspection and uses computer technology
to identify those anomalies that shouldn't exist in
a tire and can lead to an accident, " Bush asserted.
" If you're able to detect an issue, such as a cut or a
bulge, you would change that tire out before the
vehicle gets on the road. "
Hunter Engineering Company's Quick Tread
Heavy-Duty automated tire inspection system
provides fleets the ability to " get a quick glimpse
of the state of that vehicle within a matter of
seconds as it passes through, and there is no
human involvement at all, " said Tommy Maitz,
director of marketing at Hunter.
When using automated inspection systems,
compounding planned downtime with the planning
of services can lend to a minimization of
vehicle-down situations.
" Vehicles that come through our system on a
nightly basis after they finish their runs, and if
they see something like a screw in the tire, the
Artemis system can alert the fleet manager and
the fleet manager would have real time eyes on
the equipment, even remotely, " Bush said. " They
can identify the requirements for maintenance
to change that tire in-between shifts, so when the
next morning comes, that vehicle is going to be in
perfect working condition, and you don't have the
threat of a blown tire on the road.
" In terms of low tread depth, the system is
going to identify if and when you should schedule
the maintenance of the tires, and specifically,
for changing them out, " Bush stated. " So again,
remotely, a fleet manager could identify which
vehicles are in line for tire upgrades. It gives them
that intelligence to plan accordingly. "
Bush said fleets can customize the Artemis
system according to their specifications. For example,
a fleet can set up a critical alert on tread depth
according to the depth they wish the alert to be
sent-such as when a tire reaches 4/32.
When a fleet is trying different tires, or their
routes and duty cycles have been adjusted, automated
tire inspection systems can even provide
insight for a fleet into which tires are performing
best for their use cases.
" The other thing that we're able to do is to identify
the specific type, date, manufacturer, size, load,
and speed of the tires, through our detection, "
Bush said of the Artemis system. " You're able to
understand, on a tire basis, which specific brands
are performing best for your fleet. "
Leveraging the data
One of the best advantages of automated tire
inspection systems is the data provided.
For instance, Goodyear customers can set up
the CheckPoint data to be sent to Fleet Central or
another maintenance platform.
" The key part is around the connectivity of the
tire to the vehicle and to the service network, "
noted Johnny McIntosh, director of Integrated
Solutions & Tire Management Services at
Goodyear. " And you're going to get more out of
" If you aren't having a
tire crisis, it tends to
fall low on the priority
list, until you look back
over the year, and you
look where you spent
all your money. "
Jason Miller, national fleet channel
sales manager, Cooper Tire & Rubber
» Manual tire inspections can foster subjectivity,
and in some cases, 'pencil whipping.'
Yokohama Tire
your tires-you're going to be able to retread
more, because you're not going to be running
them underinflated, or running mismatched in
a dual configuration. "
Using Hunter's Quick Tread Heavy-Duty, data is
pushed to Flight Board, a portal providing an overview
of the results from the inspection. Results are
provided displaying pass or fails, tire status, and
all data is visually represented through images
and diagrams to provide quick, actionable, and
accessible information.
Furthermore, reports can be customized and
generated as a fleet sees fit. For instance, Maitz
explained, a fleet maintenance manager can have
a report generated to be sent at the end of the day
containing all the results, or an afternoon report
of the morning's results, or more. This flexibility
allows a fleet to have the data sent to the right
people at the right time to assess situations, plan
procedures, and act accordingly.
The Artemis system also generates reports and
provides notifications to fleets and third-parties.
The ability to share that information promotes an
efficient maintenance operation.
" A best practice to understand: Because we're
capturing critical information, we want to make
sure that we keep the right people in the loop, " Bush
said. " So, make sure that the appropriate team, and
that could be anyone from the fleet manager, safety
manager, maintenance manager, and the driver, is
to be included in any critical alerts. "
All industries are having to navigate a climate
of supply chain disruption, and though fleets are
typically looked at as a key to solving supply chain
issues, they too face issues in getting the parts, and
tires, they need. Working closely with suppliers,
and seeking the latest technologies available for
adoption, can help relieve the burden of operating
business as usual in a time when things are
anything but.
Additional reporting from John Hitch.
For related content go to
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December 2021 | FleetMaintenance.com
11
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