Wafer slim margins are a constant topic of conversation across the transport industry. How to whittle down the costs, just that little bit further, to improve profit margins? If you’ve optimised journeys, knocked speeding on the head, and reduced idling time, what’s left?
The answer is simple – tyres.
Tyres and their maintenance can form a significant cost centre for transport operations, so it’s worth paying a bit more attention to the possibilities. That’s where tyre pressure monitoring comes in.
Why bother?
Regardless of their size, tread pattern, or ply rating, all tyres rely on consistent inflation pressure to perform well. Getting the inflation pressure right for the load the tyre carries is crucial.
A tyre that’s 20% down in pressure, wears about 25% faster than a correctly inflated tyre, yet that difference in inflation is barely perceptible when doing a visual inspection.
Maintaining tyres at correct pressure also has a significant impact on fuel consumption. Under-inflated tyres have an increased rolling resistance. This means they need more fuel to make them turn.
Constantly monitoring tyre pressure while driving can also give you early warning of mechanical issues such as binding, or dragging brakes or wheel bearings. The increased level of heat from either problem generates an increased pressure in the tyres, so if pressure readings on one wheel end of a multi-axle unit increase more than the other end, then its likely there’s a problem.
Problems such as binding brakes, which are not caught early, can develop into a roadside breakdown, or worse still a wheel off. A roadside breakdown usually means extra costs, the breakdown service to attend, the missed schedule for unloading/loading, the driver’s hours, passing fatigue limits, and then the actual damage to the equipment, smashed mudguards, broken parts, disintegrated tyres, and so forth.
The ‘snowball effect’ of this type of event could have been avoided with continual monitoring of tyre pressure.
How does it work?
Electronic pressure sensors are attached to the tyre valve stems. The sensors transmit information to an in-cab monitor which tracks the pressures continuously while the vehicle is driving.
Future regulation?
Internationally, the US and the EU are already mandating tyre pressure monitoring systems, and China is looking at it. There is potential that tyre pressure monitoring systems may be required in the future, in Australia and New Zealand.
Integration possibilities
Tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), such as those provided by Tyre Safe Australia, allow truck drivers to monitor tyre pressure and temperature via the in-cab monitor, but this leaves all the responsibility with individual drivers.
Integrating TPMS with a GPS fleet tracking system allows a fleet manager to see the tyre pressures and temperatures across the whole fleet. GPS fleet tracking provider Teletrac Navman has integrated Tyre Safe Australia’s solutions, and a commercial launch is imminent.
The GPS tracking system takes the output from the in-cab monitoring screen of the TPMS, then sends the data to the back office servers. The data is interpreted by the GPS fleet software allowing the fleet manager to see tyre pressure information in real time, across the whole fleet. The fleet manager can take action if required, for example, getting a driver to pull over, or go to a service station to re-inflate a tyre.
Tyre pressure and temperature can be represented on software dashboards, making it easy for fleet managers to look across their whole fleet at a glance. The system also generates real time alerts in the control room should tyre pressure drop. The system can also send SMS messages and trigger alerts on the in-cab screen. There is potential in the future to automatically trigger sending out a breakdown service to the side of a road.
Tough conditions in the transport industry are requiring operators to pay more and more attention to where they can trim costs. Real time monitoring of tyre pressure across entire fleets is another tool in the arsenal.
‘It’s also a prime example of the Internet of Things’ sensor data. In this case, the sensor is a tyre pressure monitoring device, but all sorts of sensors can be integrated. Internet of Things sensor data is the way of the future, across a whole range of industries.
