october2022 - 13

Tire failures occur often and with significant consequences, Monte
continued. In fact, she said, tires need to be checked and maintained
more than any other truck component and disproportionately benefit
from the addition of automation paired with sensors and analytics.
Today's TPMS generally use telematics to alert both a driver and a
fleet manager to an underinflated tire. In both cases, the information
allows prompt action to be taken
to correct the issue before a catastrophic
failure occurs. TPMS
is, to put it mildly, a good idea
whose time has come.
" It
is especially important
to know the tire pressure on
commercial vehicles, " stressed
Jim Sharkey, VP of global sales
and marketing at Pressure
Systems International (P.S.I.).
" Unlike a passenger car, it is
more difficult to 'feel' soft,
underinflated tires, so having
the pressures monitored is very
important to preventing roadside
calls and improving highway
safety. "
For those reasons, Sharkey
said that both TPMS and automatic
tire inflation systems
(ATIS), which take things a step
further by actually pumping
air from a truck's air compressor
into a low-pressure tire, can
dramatically improve the efficiency
and accuracy of pre-trip
inspections.
He also challenged the notion
that pre-trips are done 100% of the
time and performed accurately.
" They're not, " Sharkey alleged.
T
ire maintenance can be the trickiest aspect of commercial vehicle
fleet management. Tires routinely rank as one of the top three main
cost items for fleets (along with fuel and drivers), so gathering as much
data as possible about their health and performance has always been
a challenge for fleet managers. That's the long-term problem.
There are day-to-day management issues as well. Simply keeping
tires at their correct air pressure is-hands down-a fleet's most powerful
tool for ensuring good fuel economy, safety, and long tire life. But
getting drivers to actually put a gauge on a tire stem and get a pressure
reading has always been an iffy proposition. Many drivers consider
simply whacking a tire with a stout wooden stick to be an adequate
tire-check procedure. (Spoiler alert: it's not.)
Add-on tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) were developed
to address all of these issues. Initially offered as add-on systems for
trailers, TPMS offered fleets direct monitoring of tire pressures on a
trailer. Early systems simply alerted the driver if there was a pressure
issue-a feature that was revolutionary at the time. Typically, fleets
set their own thresholds. Boyle Transportation, for example, sets its
Bendix SmarTire TPMS to alert operators at 15% underinflation.
According to the American Trucking Associations Technology &
Maintenance Council, a tire continuously underinflated by 20% will
have nearly one-third less life, while 40% underinflation cuts a tire's
expected life by half.
" Underinflated tires are a foreshadowing of premature tire wear,
tire failure, or even a tire-related accident in the future, " noted Judith
Monte, VP of marketing & client success at Aperia Technologies, a
provider of tire inflation and TPMS solutions. " That can be seen in
statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), which show 35% of accidents attributed to 'vehicle malfunctions'
are primarily attributed to tire-related problems. "
" And using tire-bats or kicking
a tire to 'check' its air pressure
have proven to be largely ineffective
and misleading. "
The thumper method might
be quick and cheap, but it will
cost the fleet and driver in flat
tires and roadside calls and can
create unsafe driving conditions.
" According to NHTSA,
» P.S.I.'s TireView TPMS can alert drivers to fast
or slow tire leaks, as well as temperature events.
Photo: P.S.I.
vehicles driving on under-inflated
tires are three times
more likely to be involved in
a crash compared to vehicles
with proper inflation, " added
Jamie Barnett, senior manager,
tire-centric product management,
Bridgestone Mobility Solutions. " And from a fuel economy standpoint,
under-inflated tires lead to a 3% reduction in fuel efficiency.
If you apply that to a Class 8 sleeper, that 3% reduction equates to
approximately $2,503 per vehicle annually in fuel expense. Multiply
that over a business's entire fleet, and you can see how great of an
impact it will have on your bottom line. "
Another strong factor driving fleet adoption in the U.S. is that TPMS
is a proven money-saver for fleets, added Mark Molitor, senior product
manager, chassis and suspensions, Link Manufacturing.
" Studies have shown that 25% of all dual tire assemblies have tires
that differ in pressure by more than 5 psi, " he said. " And while 5 psi may
not sound like much, a tire that is just 5 psi lower creates a 5/16 " difference
in diameter. In a dual tire arrangement, the larger tire will drag
the smaller one an estimated 13' for every mile driven, prematurely
October 2022 | FleetMaintenance.com
13
" Studies have
shown that 25%
of all dual tire
assemblies have
tires that differ
in pressure by
more than 5 psi. "
Mark Molitor, senior product
manager, chassis and suspensions,
Link Manufacturing
http://www.FleetMaintenance.com
october2022

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