The Fleet Business Authority
Issue link: http://heavydutytrucking.epubxp.com/i/221397
Tires&Wheels; trailers. Among the fleets responding to the survey were NACFE members, described by executive director Mike Roeth as "probably a small slice of the industry, but generally ahead of the adoption curve and with a very scientific approach to equipment acquisition." Among that group, adoption rates for automatic inflation systems was at about 35% in 2012. Adoption rates for trailer tire pressure monitoring systems was about 10% and for tractors about 2%. All about payback Most fleets and owner-operators in the NACFE survey indicated they expect a payback on a fuel-saving product in 18 to 24 months, or in the first half of a three- to four-year trade cycle. In recent years, several independent studies of ATIS and TPMS technologies – including a two-year study of two fleets conducted by the Department of Transportation – concluded there were indeed quantifiable benefits to both types of systems. Chris Flanigan of the Federal Motor ATIS for drive axles coming soon or about a year now, con"bolt-on plug-and-play device that vincing rumors have been automatically maintains optimal circulating about automatic tire pressure by taking advantage tire inflation systems for drive of a wheel's rotational motion axles. We know that at least one to generate pumping power to supplier plans to launch next year. inflate tires." It's totally external Others we are aware of have been and mounts to the axle hub much more circumspect about launch like a hub odometer. dates, but they have products in CEO Josh Carter told HDT the field on fleet trucks going that the technology has been through reliability testing. more than two years in Dana Holding development and is Corp. offered a currently being pisneak peak at a loted by several new system in fleets that have September 2012 at logged almost the IAA Commer7 million miles cial Vehicles show with the device. in Hanover, GerAperia says many. Dana said Halo is a retrofitthen the system, capable inflation optimized for line- Aperia Technologies says solution capable haul tractors, was of serving both it will release its Halo Tire in the initial roaddrive and trailer Inflator sometime in 2014. testing phase. axles, and a Dana already ofsimple switch out fers a central tire inflation system taking just minutes allows for offfor off-road vehicles. truck maintenance. A new supplier, Aperia Tech"We fully expect it to pay for nologies, says it will release its itself in less than a year and conHalo Tire Inflator sometime in tinue to deliver strong returns for 2014. Aperia describes Halo as a many years after," Carter says. F 58 HDT • DECEMBER 2013 Carrier Safety Administration's Office of Analysis, Research and Technology shared the results of the agency's Tire Pressure Monitoring Field Operational Test at the Technology and Maintenance Council annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., in 2012. "The program goals were to assess the cost/benefit, to determine if the systems could influence maintenance intervals in a positive way and to determine their impact on performance and safety," Flanigan told the group. "We saw an increase in fuel economy in both fleets of 1.4%. Based on current fuel costs [about $4 a gallon] and equipment costs of about $1,500 per tractor-trailer unit, the ROI comes in under one year." Most fleets in the survey indicated they expect payback on a fuel-saving product in 18 to 24 months. Asked to account for the apparent discrepancy between what the fleets say they need and what tire technologies have proven to deliver, Roeth said it comes down to awareness of costs. "ATIS and TPMS offer three benefits, in varying degrees: fewer roadside breakdowns, longer tire life and better fuel economy," Roeth says. "Rarely in our interviews did we come across a fleet that looked at all three. They typically focus on one or two out of the three, usually breakdowns and tire wear, which led us to conclude that fleets are being a little conservative in recognizing all the benefits." Roeth says one TPMS supplier told him during the follow-up interviews that his first question to a potential customer is about tire costs. "When I talk to a fleet for the first time, I ask them what their tire expenses are," the supplier rep told Roeth. "If they can't tell me quickly www.truckinginfo.com