Fleet Maintenance - 44

ADVERTORIAL

Sponsored by
IMI

Get the lowest cost per
mile out of your tires.
How one fleet uses the only adaptive internal balancer in all wheel positions
to correct irregular tire wear and applies those savings to their bottom line.
Tire and fuel costs are two of the biggest expenses a fleet will
regularly handle. Naturally, fleet managers are on the lookout
for ways the keep these expenses down. Looking for a solution
to reduce irregular tire wear, a progressive, Midwest-based fleet
with 340 Freightliner 6x2's and 790 custom Wabash Trailers, was
interested in testing an internal balancing solution. Already being
family with the creator of the internal balancing category, IMI, they
reached out to discuss FLEXX. FLEXX is IMI's adaptive wheel-end
balancing solution with DUAL FORCE technology. FLEXX adapts
to road force changes, installs quickly to maximize productivity,
extends tire life and improves fuel efficiency.

With a focus on preventative maintenance and data driven acceptance of new technology, the fleet decided to do a test of FLEXX
to determine if the internal balancing compound could improve
fuel economy and increase the tire mileage before removal of its
tractor-trailers.

Comprehensive Test Parameters

* 1,400 mile round-trip route
* Looking for fuel economy technology
* Some irregular wear on wide-base tires
* FLEXX installed in all wheel positions
* Data collected and compared with telematics
To establish a baseline, the fleet was achieving an average of
8.4 miles per gallon - already well above most fleets in the United
States. It was seeing some irregular wear on wide-base drive tires,
as well as on the wide-base trailer tires, with the truck having one
drive axle and two trailer axles.

Preparing for fuel economy comparison

The fleet committed to testing FLEXX in multiple round-trips of
one specific 1,400-mile route carrying appliance components from
Chicago, IL to St. Cloud, MN. The fleet used telematics for data
collection and comparison, to ensure precise fuel consumption
comparison. After establishing a baseline, the fleet tested four
control tractors to three tractors equipped with FLEXX.

After 140,000+ miles of testing, the results were in: the tractor
trailers equipped with FLEXX showed a .25 mpg improvement in
fuel economy - that's a 3% savings! The trailer tires with FLEXX also
showed a 20% increase in tire life, significantly reducing the replacement rate of tires.
* $326,600 annual savings in extended tire life
* $243,570 annual fuel savings from balanced wheel-ends
* $101,430 annual fuel savings in extended tire life

Astounding success with annual savings

In the test route alone, the fleet replaced 12 drive tires in the control
tractors and only 3 tires in the FLEXX-equipped tractors. That's a
difference between replacing 75% of the drive tires versus replacing
only 17% of the tires. In one year, the fleet would save an average
of $671,600 by installing FLEXX in all wheel positions, fleet-wide thanks to improved fuel economy and increased tire life. With 20%
tire life improvement and 3% increase in fuel economy, it was an allaround success for FLEXX - but an even greater success for the fleet.

Fleet Maintenance

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fleet Maintenance