REAL TIME MONITORING OF TYRE PARAMETERS SHOULD GO HAND IN HAND WITH DRIVER TRAINING
Tyres constitute 10–15% of the total operating costs of a fleet, and up to 50% when combined with other factors such as fuel consumption, maintenance and breakdown. Therefore, purchase decisions related to tyre should also take into account tyre quality, tyre application, performance and maintenance.
The main KPI that fleet managers should monitor constantly is the cost per kilometer, which is also the metric that should justify investment in a premium tyre that offers better performance, safety and longevity than standard tyres.
Every tyre is designed for a specific onroad or off-road application. The same tyre cannot be used for transporting flowers and construction material. Therefore, tyre application should be an important factor influencing the purchase decision.
Another major factor affecting vehicle safety is tyre pressure. Our studies indicate that nearly 50% of the vehicles running in the Middle East are under inflated by more than 10%, a considerably pressure drop. Around
20% of the breakdowns in fleets are related to tyre failures. In more than 95% of breakdown cases related to tyre, the cause of failure can be traced to a small leakage of the tyre that could have been detected in advance to prevent accidents and fatalities.
The solution to avoid potential tyre failures is to have regular pressure checks or use tools such as Continental’s Contipressurecheck, which monitors and transmits the pressure and temperature inside the tyre, continuously, using sensors. The real-time pressure and temperature data can be displayed in the cab for the driver to monitor as well as integrated with fleet telematics systems. Real time monitoring of tyre parameters and preventive maintenance should go hand in hand with driver training to ensure longevity of tyres, fuel economy and road safety.
The purpose of data should be to increase efficiency in fleet operations. For example, data can help with selection of tyres and the right pattern for an application, or determine the correlation between tyres and fuel consumption. The fleet manager should be aware about all the data points from tyres and other vehicle components and the levels of interpretation required to understand correlations among different parameters in order to make better data-driven decisions
With regard to storage, cool, dark and dry environments are ideal conditions for tyre storage. The serial number located on the sidewall of the tyre indicates the manufacturing date of the tyre, which can help with the first-in first-out inventory management for tyre storage and usage. Tyres can easily last for more than five years in this region if they’re stored and maintained well. Continental Tyres provides a five-year warranty from the date of production.