Last month we took a look at three new tire inflation products introduced at the North American Commercial Vehicle show back in October – P.S.I.’s TireView Live; Maxion Wheels’ Smart Wheel Connectivity; and Aperia Technologies’ Halo Connect. Now let’s look at three more:
SMAR-te Tire Pilot
SAF-Holland describes its SMAR-te Tire Pilot as an intelligent tire management system that is engineered to specifically work with SAF integrated suspension systems.
The system combines patented electro-pneumatic controls from AKTV8 LLC with the SAF Tire Pilot Plus TPMS, which was engineered specifically for its CBX and ULX Series suspension systems. SMAR-te Tire Pilot takes things a step further, dynamically changing tire pressure up or down based on the axle load. Tire pressure is adjusted to better follow the tire manufacturer’s recommendations for tire life and reliability.
“The axle loading feature can prevent potential overload citations via visible and electronic alerts,” says Bill Hicks, SAF product manager for SAF-Holland. “The electro-pneumatic controls of the SMAR-te Tire Pilot will also enhance tire life and fuel mileage to an even higher level.”
Unlike traditional mechanical tire inflation systems, SMAR-te Tire Pilot requires no maintenance or calibration, the company says. The ability to more accurately control the proper tire air pressure per the tire manufacturer’s load and inflation standards reduces tire stress, resulting in optimized tire tread and casing life and reduced rolling resistance.
“[The SMAR-te Tire Pilot is] a next step evolution of our overall tire pressure management product portfolio,” Hicks says. “Any fleet that has a higher percentage of unladen or partially laden load conditions as part of their operations [will find this solution especially useful].”
ContiPressureCheck Solo
ContiPressureCheck Solo, a trailer TPMS system from Continental, notifies the driver of tire pressure issues in real time while keeping the trailer system separate from the tractor.
“Unlike many systems, [ContiPressureCheck Solo] is not connected to trailer air hoses, so it will not introduce air leaks and does not require frequent maintenance to prevent leaks,” says Carolina Wagner, Continental’s director of marketing for commercial vehicle tires and digital tire monitoring solutions in the Americas region. “It doesn’t require connection to any specific tractor in order to work. All the hardware is contained on the trailer itself.”
Wagner says the stand-alone system is ideal for drop-and-hook scenarios and trailer leasing. In addition, if regulations stay as currently written, she says, fleets will be able to meet all Greenhouse Gas II regulations from the EPA and CARB with just the ContiPressureCheck Solo TPMS system and low rolling-resistance tires, such as Conti EcoPlus HT3.
“Fleets will not need an aerodynamic kit or any additional products,” she says.
Trailers equipped with telematics systems can also transmit tire data into a telematics dashboard, allowing back office support personnel to view trailer TPMS information remotely.
Watchman advanced trailer wheel-end sensor
Hendrickson’s Watchman advanced wheel-end sensor technology for trailers includes trailer tire pressure monitoring, wheel-end temperature and wheel-end vibration data that will be communicated to the fleet through the tractor telematics system pulling the trailer.
The Watchman wheel-end sensor kit will include four battery powered wheel-end sensors that transmit wireless RF signals to a Sensata Technologies gateway module, which collects data from the sensors and will be used as the communication hub for the trailer. Additionally, the wheel-end data output from the Sensata gateway module will be made available to on-board trailer telematics devices for transmission to the fleet’s back office.
The system combines with Hendrickson’s Tiremaax Pro trailer inflation system to allow fleets to minimize tire wear and maximize fuel economy by managing the tire pressure on their trailers, the company says.
“Unlike most inflate-only tire inflation systems, Tiremaax Pro provides access to the actual tire pressure at the hubcap. This makes it possible to easily monitor the tire pressure with the Watchman sensor package that also mounts to the hubcap,” says Matt Wilson, business unit director of controls for Hendrickson.
The company plans to have the Watchman available in late 2020, Wilson adds.
