Telematics offer fleets quantifiable savings, arguably none more so than with tire costs. Along with drivers and fuel, tires rank in the top tier of costs incurred by fleets. Maintaining proper inflation of those tires can reduce those costs by extending tire life by 10% or more and protecting tire casing integrity for retreading. Proper inflation improves fuel economy reducing that cost as well. Telematics offer tools that make a significant positive impact on your tire costs.
Tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and associated data capture and communication should be a primary entry to telematics because it offers instant payback either as part of a larger telematics system at a fleet or as a stand-alone product. Automatic tire inflation systems like those offered by P.S.I., which has been manufacturing ATIS for trailers for more than 20 years, also benefit from the use of data.
Telematics can deliver real-time health reports for all the tires in a fleet. This information is delivered to any device that is connected to the internet so can be accessed from anywhere and decisions can be made without solely relying on the driver to respond to alerts. Telematics products like P.S.I.’s TireView Live provide fleets an at-a-glance dashboard capturing details for all tires in operation so problems can be addressed before expensive in-transit repairs are required, but they also save the data to allow for deep-dive analytics that flesh out root causes of tire pressure loss so those can be addressed.
P.S.I. sensors, for example, send alerts about tire pressure and temperature events happening within a fleet, and if ATIS is present it can also report active inflation events so that fleet managers know exactly what it happening and respond effectively. It may involve scheduling tire maintenance later that day, or having the driver pull over to avoid progressive damage.
The reports generated by the data stream coming from the tire pressure telematics sensors can be customized to a fleet’s operation so the best decisions can be made about tire management. Maybe certain tires are not suitable for a particular operation or possibly the current PM schedule for tires needs to be reviewed or adjusted. Data can be analyzed by vehicle type, terminal, or region giving great insight into what’s working and what’s not.
Telematics choices expand every day with capabilities that could only be dreamed about 20 years ago. The technology has made our industry better, more efficient, and better able to meet the demands of moving freight, but determining how best to utilize this technology is a fairly challenging undertaking. Let us suggest that you start with tire pressure telematics–it’s the closest thing to a sure bet.
This story was contributed by Pressure Systems International.
