1. What are the advantages of TPMS?
Assuming that the TPMS system has all the necessary capabilities such as temperature monitoring, over and under inflation alarming and slow leak detection, then the following advantages can be realized:
a) Properly inflated tires predictably increase overall fuel economy.
b) Overall tire life can be substantially extended by monitoring tire pressure in real time. By example, a 20% under-inflated tire reduces tread life by approximately 25%.
c) Significantly extends the life of the casing so that a tire can be safely retreaded up to (5) five times to a useful life of over 1 million miles. Tires that are under-inflated by 20% lose approximately 30% of the life of the casing.
d) Increases the overall safety of the vehicle by detecting overheated, under inflated, over-inflated and slow leaking tires.
e) Reduces overall liability exposure for property damage, workers compensation and insurance cost increases from tire blow-outs and tire separation.
f) Helps to prevent late deliveries from unforeseen tire mishaps.
g) Provides the means to help compare various manufacturers overall tire performance (tread wear, retreads, etc) as it relates to tire expense by brand.
h) Aids in tire benchmarking by collecting, comparing and statistically analyzing tire data. Such things as tire temperature versus tire pressure levels over time, by vehicle type, vehicle weight and tire position can be documented, leading to improved performance against predetermined benchmarks.
2. What types of fleets are buying these systems?
For a system that is easy to install, monitor and maintain (including a simple method to replace sensors when new tires are installed) these types of fleets are investing in TPMS:
a) Fleets that have a greater knowledge and understanding of their tire and fuel costs. They commonly have a set standard to measure tire performance versus tire expense.
b) Fleets which have trailers hauling hazardous materials, flammable liquids, etc. often have larger liability concerns with potential catastrophic accidents.
c) Fleets that have critical on-time delivery schedules such as frozen and refrigerated goods.
d) Trailer only fleets that have independent drivers pulling their trailers. Large trailer yards generally have limited ability to manually check tire status on an on-going basis. Preventable tire lose is often considerable in this environment.
e) Fleets that tend to be more profitable, as a result of a corporate culture, which recognizes the value of a pervasive safety program. Safety awareness programs in these organizations are often found to be a core part of their maintenance agenda.
3. What are the maintenance issues with these systems, both for the systems themselves and the tires?
Mobile Awareness strongly believes that both the ease of use & maintenance is critical to properly implementing a TPMS system which ultimately maximizes cost reductions and safety improvements. Essentially the tire and the sensor system must be considered equally when it comes to upholding a “best in class” tire maintenance program with these considerations: Reducing the Total Cost of Safety™
a) Sensor Accessibility: Immediate and easy access to adjusting air pressure, at each wheel position, is a must if tire maintenance is to be done properly. Therefore, it is a necessary part of ongoing maintenance that the drivers participate in maintaining the proper air pressure levels while the vehicle is on the road. Externally mounted valve-cap type sensors, which must be removed and replaced each time a tire is inflated, limits the likelihood that the driver will maintain the vehicle’s tires, The risks associated with forgetting to replace the sensor or having a sensor roll under the vehicle during routine tire checks, presents a greater expense liability to the driver. Something that will likely result in ineffective use of the TPMS system. An externally mounted “flow-through” valve sensor, which allows for quick and easy air-ups, is most likely to be properly maintained both in the yard and on the road.
b) Rapid Leak Detection: Tires that are NOT discovered to be leaking, when it happens, often become losses by time they are checked during routine maintenance. Additionally, the maintenance department may not realize they are airing-up a tire that may only appear to have low pressure, when in fact the tire has a fast or slow leak. Detecting a leak and monitoring it until repairs are made can be a preventative maintenance advantage if the feature is available. It is strongly suggested that a practical tire maintenance program incorporate a TPMS system that monitors leaks in real time, allowing the driver to air-up the tires, preventing premature tire failure while on the road.
c) Sensor Malfunction: TPMS sensors should be readily removable and replaceable in the case of a malfunctioning device. The maintenance department, as well as the vehicle driver, should have access to the sensor without having to tear down the tire, such as is the case with an internally mounted sensor. The time and expense of a tire remount is one of the major concerns preventing fleet owners from investing in a TPMS system. We strongly believe that the access limitation of internally mounted sensors adds considerable expense to both the initial installation and the ongoing maintenance of commercial fleet tires. Without easy access to a potentially malfunctioning sensor, the overall value proposition a TPMS system is greatly reduced.
d) Sensor Battery Life: A low maintenance TPMS system should provide an extremely long sensor battery life. The maintenance time and expense involved with removing tire sensors, replacing the battery and then remounting the sensors (and possibly reprogramming the sensor) is considerable. A minimum battery operating life of 5 -7 years will significantly reduce the time consuming task of tracking the age of each sensor battery, on each tire, on each vehicle in a fleet.
4. How can fleets calculate ROI?
There are several things to consider when calculating the real return on investment when it comes to using a tire pressure monitoring system. A simple ROI calculator tool that reveals a bottom line number is misleading as there are several things to consider such as the following:
a) Fleets should determine all the costs directly associated by utilizing a baseline that consists of fuel costs, tire expense, time and labor to manually check tires, rate and cost of roadside assistance, etc. The improvement from the baseline costs will give the most accurate measurement for true ROI over time.
b) Tire costs should include new tires & retreads. If the tire pressure is maintained properly for the life of the casing, the fleet should be able to get multiple retreads. A retreaded drive position tire can be relocated to the trailer depending on the type of vehicle and the application.
c) Including the cost of road side assistance is an important advantage to consider in gauging a fleets investment return in a TPMS system. Since approximately half of all emergency roadside assistance calls are found to be the result of some type of tire failure, the savings can be substantial.
d) A fleet should also consider the savings that can result relative to the associated liability for preventable accidents due to tire loss, vehicle downtime and customer penalties due to late or mishandled deliveries.
e) It is a fact that fuel costs are negatively affected by running improper air pressure levels in tires. For example, a 10 PSI under-inflation level has been shown, by conservative estimates, to reduce fuel economy by more than 0.5%. A 20 PSI under-inflation level reduces fuel economy by up to 2.0%. For a truck running 100k miles per year, this could mean that the vehicle would need to use an extra 340 gallons of fuel (based on an average of 6 mpg). At current diesel fuel prices, the added expense to run an 18-tire vehicle, at 20 PSI below optimal inflation levels, would cost an extra $1700.00.
f) Mobile Awareness estimates that most fleets will have an ROI in the range of 4-6 months, if the total costs are properly accounted for, when using an effective TPMS system.
5. Do you think we will see government legislation to mandate these systems for commercial vehicles? If so, in what type of time-frame?
There will be continued government legislation to improve fuel economy and safety. There are proposals to give incentives to fleets that are willing to invest proactively in these types of systems. Mobile Awareness believes that it is likely some combination of incentives and government requirements will be in place within the next 24 months. Regardless of the government’s approach, we believe that forward thinking fleets will be implementing systems based on the need for greater safety and the quantifiable cost savings
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6. What is the best method to monitor tire pressure on vehicle fleets, pre-programmed alarm level (fixed percentage baseline type such as PressurePro, Doran, SmarTire, Tire Sentry, SecuTire, etc) or actual pressure reading user programmable systems such as TireStat?
Many TPMS products compromise a critical aspect of tire pressure monitoring, ease of proper air pressure level maintenance. Ultimately it gets down to any TPMS system is only as effective as it is usable by the drivers of the vehicle and the maintenance departments. Most removable sensor based TPMS rely on the existing tire pressure (at the time the sensor is attached) to determine a reference tire pressure, often referred to as its BASELINE. Here is what happens to a BASELINE pressure monitor when the sensor cap is removed:
“When a Sensor is installed, it records the tire pressure at the time of installation as its BASELINE pressure setting. If you remove and reinstall a Sensor while the tires are warm, the Sensor will record the elevated WARM pressure when reinstalled, as its new BASELINE pressure from which to trigger an alert. When the tires cool, the pressure could fall enough to cause an alert. If possible, wait to reinstall the Sensor until the tire is cold and at the manufacturer specified cold pressure.
Cold temperatures and high altitudes reduce tire pressures. If a tire is close to its low pressure, an alert can be sounded when the pressure drops overnight due to the cooler temperatures. To correct this problem, remove Sensor and inflate tire to its manufacturer specified pressure in the morning while the tires are still cold. Make sure Sensor is off of the stem for at least 60 seconds to allow Sensor to “reset”, then screw back on.”
7. The Bottom Line TPMS Consideration:
Mobile Awareness believes that a quality TPMS system should be a key element in any fleet maintenance program; especially if overall safety improvement and cost reduction goals are to be met. While tire pressure monitoring systems are extremely effective as stand alone solutions, the greatest return is found in organizations that are proactive and diligent with their entire maintenance program. A fleet will profit from a system which is easy to install, easy to use and has an affordableprice tag. The larger ROI comes from the combination of the right TPMS product and a maintenance program that focuses on safety awareness in the vehicle environment.
