ANALYSIS
Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems Give Back to Your Fleet
WRITTEN BY PHIL ZAROOR
ing safety and savings for drivers and fleets alike. With the market facing a one-two punch of the public and government demanding increased safety measures, while at the same time school transpor- tation budgets being continuously cut, the time has come for fleets to consider using this proven safety and savings tool. It will help fleets become more efficient while adding safety for drivers, passengers and others on the road.
T
“Tire pressure monitoring systems can provide such significant returns for your fleet, and the technology actually carries a return on investment (ROI) of less than a year.”
Tire pressure monitoring systems, TPMS for
short, are electronic systems designed to monitor the air pressure inside pneumatic tires. Depending on the type of TPMS unit and technology offered by the TPMS providers, these pressures are then displayed either at the point of the sensor, in-cab for drivers or even remotely for a fleet manager.
THE BENEFITS
By bringing fleets and drivers the information needed to maintain optimal tire pressures at all times, whether parked or moving, TPMS arm you with the ability to add safety, and increase efficiencies and savings to operations through numerous routes.
Added Safety: Low tire pressure ultimately
results in 40,000 accidents, 33,000 injuries and more than 650 deaths per year in the United States. Te leading cause of tire blowouts is running under recommended pressures, which leaves tires prone to added bend-and-flex, causing tread separation and breakdown, and leaving tires more prone to sudden failures.
44 School Transportation News July 2013
hough a burgeoning product in the school transportation market, tire pressure monitoring systems have been around for more than 20 years, provid-
Further, underinflated tires require longer stop- ping distances, reducing braking efficiency as well as experience diminished handling. Both drawbacks add to decreased safety for drivers, passengers and others on the road. TPMS units can provide real-time alerts to problem tire situations so they can be remedied before they become dangerous.
Increased Fuel Economy: Tires running on less than optimal pressures require additional energy to overcome added rolling resistance experienced by the tires, in order to maintain the same speeds. Tis can reduce a vehicle’s fuel efficiency by as much as 3.3 percent. In fact, the U.S. Department of Transporta- tion reports that more than two billion gallons of fuel are wasted due to low tire pressure each year. Tis inflated use of fuel not only costs your fleet
money, but it also contributes to magnified pollution. TPMS technology allows you to reel in fuel costs, as well as become more environmentally friendly.
Decreased Downtime and Reduced Maintenance:
Whether your fleet requires daily, weekly or monthly tire checks, it costs you personnel and time to manually check tire pressures. Tough TPMS units do not take the place of visual inspections of tires, it does provide an automated way to check every tire in your fleet in a matter of seconds or minutes, reducing your required maintenance time. Constant tire information also helps your fleet manager better predict and schedule main- tenance downtime for each vehicle, helping streamline maintenance practices. Additionally, it is estimated that in fleet situations, 7
to 9 percent of vehicles experience roadside downtime due to problems caused by low inflation each year. Tese
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