Michelin Americas Truck Tires and Aperia Technologies Inc. have teamed up to introduce Michelin Auto Inflate, a wheel-mounted tire-management solution that allows fleets to automatically maintain optimal tire pressure. Leaky valve stems, extreme temperature changes and human error can all lead to underinflated tires and that results in costly downtime. According to Michelin, Auto Inflate can save fleets an estimated $2,400 per tractor-trailer annually by reducing tire-related downtime events, extending tire life, improving fuel economy and increasing safety.
“Michelin Auto Inflate is simple, reliable and good for business,” said Adam Murphy, vice president of marketing for Michelin Americas Truck Tires. “Due to a number of complicated factors that cause tire pressures to change day-to-day and hour-to-hour, maintaining optimal tire pressure is nearly impossible to achieve manually. Michelin Auto Inflate, using Aperia’s Halo device, provides an immediate payback for one of fleets’ biggest assets by eliminating complexity and automatically managing air pressure in the tires that keep their trucks rolling.”
“Michelin and Aperia chose to collaborate on Michelin Auto Inflate because of our mutual commitment to bring innovative products and service solutions to fleets with the goal of maximizing uptime,” said Josh Carter, chief executive officer of Aperia. “Michelin Auto Inflate, powered by Halo, provides fleets the first simple, reliable, full-vehicle solution to the complex problem of optimal tire pressure management.”
Michelin Auto Inflate utilizes automatic tire inflation technology to maintain the pressure on drive and trailer tires. Easy to retrofit on existing vehicles or as an add-on to new equipment, the device works with both duals and wide-base single tires. The compact, self-powered pump can be mounted to the hub in 10 minutes using standard tools, no axle drilling required. With each wheel rotation, the device monitors and adjusts for low air pressure.
