HEADLINES Monitoring Tire Under-Inflation, Safety Monitoring tire pressure is probably one of the least expensive
ways to keep your buses running better and safer. Low tire pres- sure can affect fuel efficiency, tire wear and sometimes lead to blow-outs — an issue the National Transportation Safety Board recently weighed in on.
❝ According to industry experts, like maintenance and technol- Te time is ripe for the NTSB to look at utilizing
tire pressure monitoring as standard technology on all heavy vehicles. ❞
Last November, the NTSB called for mandatory tire pressure
monitoring systems in any commercial vehicle weighing more than 10,000 pounds, including school buses. “Te time is ripe for the NTSB to look at utilizing tire pressure
monitoring as standard technology on all heavy vehicles,” said Van- essa Zaroor, director of marketing for Advantage PressurePro. “With 90 percent of tire failures linked to low pressure, maintaining proper tire pressure is vital to safety and savings on all types of vehicles.”
ogy consultant Bob Pudlewski, some studies have shown that a 3 percent loss in tire pressure can result in a 10 percent loss in both fuel economy and tire wear. “I’d like to see the manufacturers come up with something that can electronically calculate rolling resistance of a tire measured against a fully inflated, less than inflated or under-inflated tire,” said Pudlewski dur- ing an interview with STN at NSTA’s mid-winter meeting in January. Checking tire pressure is the number one rec-
— Vanessa Zaroor, Advantage PressurePro
ommendation on NHTSA’s tire safety checklist, advising that drivers check their tires at least once
a month. But, a lot can happen in 30 days, and the resulting effects of an under-inflated tire are well worth the constant ob- servance of tire pressure. Systems by companies like PressurePro can give drivers real-time monitoring and alert them to instanc- es of low pressure. “When considering the ramifications that a single tire blowout
could cause on a school bus loaded with children, the need for TPMS as a safety item is clear,” added Zaroor. ■
22 School Transportation News Magazine March 2010
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