Excerpt from: “Tire Tech Can Help Fleets Reduce Costs & Boost Sustainability“
Written by Thi Dao and originally published by Government Fleet Magazine
Tracking Tire Tread Depth
February 28, 2022 — It’s not just tires themselves that have evolved. New technology related to tire data also claims to improve tire management, reducing technician time and overall costs.
Tyrata, a company that makes tire tread depth monitoring equipment and provides actionable tire data analytics, can determine your tread depth as often as you want, without needing to have a technician around to take measurements. The tire wear data is sent to a database, allowing fleet and maintenance managers to track real-time tread depth.
“The ability to automate and continuously monitor tires’ tread depth enables fleets for the first time to effectively and economically optimize tire use and reduce tire maintenance expense without compromising tire safety,” said Luka Lojk, VP of sales and marketing for the company.
Another plus? It’s good for the environment. Using tires longer reduces need for new tires, Lojk said. Replacing tires at the right time can allow a fleet operation to recap tires more times because the tire casing is likely to be undamaged. For fleets looking to be more environmentally friendly, that’s something to consider.
The system is ideally placed at a central location where similar vehicles visit often, like a bus depot or fueling station. A daily reading (done when the driver drives over the system) allows the software to chart the data, letting the maintenance manager know, in advance, the ideal time to replace or recap a tire.
Using Tyrata’s Drive-Over System, GoDurham was able to eliminate manual tire measurements while extending the life of transit vehicle tires — average tread use increased from 9.9 mm to 11.2 mm, a net improvement of 12%.
Photo: Bobit Business Media
One of Tyrata’s customers, the transit agency GoDurham, was able to extend its average tire use by 12% — increasing average tread use from 9.9 mm to 11.2 mm — without compromising safety. The data showed that with daily tire tread monitoring, GoDurham was able to confidently use tires longer. Reducing tire purchases for its 60-bus fleet and eliminating manual tire measurements should lead to an estimated net annual savings of $60,000, not to mention a 21,000-kg reduction of carbon emissions, according to data provided by Tyrata.
This chart compares GoDurham’s tire end-of-life tread depth for the three months before (orange) and three months after (blue) the fleet manager was given access to tire measurement data. Before, tires were replaced earlier than necessary; data allowed the fleet manager to replace tires at their ideal replacement time.
Photo: Bobit Business Media
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