May 5, 2016

Are you confident your vehicles are driving with tires at the proper PSI? If not, you could be losing 1.5% in fuel economy and 30% of tire life.

Turning a profit is—and always has been—a difficult proposition. With ever-shrinking margins, increased fuel costs, and robust competition, fleets now have to look to every element of their operation for cost-savings. And that includes the part of the truck where the rubber, very literally, meets the road.

According to the American Trucking Association’s Technology and Maintenance Council, tire under-inflation by as little as 10% can result in a 1.5% decline in fuel economy; tire under-inflation by 20% can result in a 30% reduction in tire life. All told, tire under-inflation leads to the following statistics:

  • 80,000 accidents per year
  • 90% of all tire failures
  • 5.4 million gallons of wasted fuel each day

The right PSI for a truck depends on the weight of the load and also the temperature changes. Manufacturers build some flexibility into their tires. But with the change in temperature, the expansion along the drive back and forth, and the difference in load weights—all those things cause variances in the tires that can lead to under-inflation.

Proper PSI can also save a trucking company millions of dollars. Take Walmart, for example. A difference in 1/10th a gallon of MPG for Walmart can represent $3 to $5 million a year in savings.

Other benefits of proper tire management and inflation include:

  • Safety —handling, stability, and braking
  • Fewer roadside breakdowns
  • Increased fuel efficiency
  • Extended tire life
  • Improved maintenance efficiency

Omnitracs works hand-in-hand with aftermarket Tire Pressure Monitoring Solutions (TPMS) and ATIS products to provide data and notifications to drivers, fleet managers and maintenance managers. Omnitracs’ TPMS provides clear information on when an inflation event has occurred so that maintenance managers can view this information and intervene before a blowout or breakdown.

A good TPMS solution should have:

  • The support of a company with experience
  • Great customer service
  • User interface for the driver
  • Backend office portal that integrates with professional services

Omnitracs TPMS is feature-rich and allows integration and customization. That’s what sets us apart. And the same is true for the TPMS products we support—Doran and PressurePro. All Omnitracs’ solutions provide clear information on when an inflation event has occurred and which tires are affected by the inflation problem.

Tire inflation may not be the most exciting aspect of trucking, but proper inflation can lead to a host of benefits and help avoid a number of costly breakdowns. And, in an industry where every dollar counts, a TPMS is the kind of value proposition that can give a carrier the leading edge.