The true cost of inflation
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• by Brian Weatherley According to Al Cohn, Goodyear's commercial tyres marketing manager, "We've been talking about tyre inflation pressure for the past 20 years, yet under-inflation is still the biggest problem for fleets and the biggest single cause of premature tyre failure. We have to convince operators that a truck tyre is hightech: there's a lot more to it than being round and black. Tyres are the highest maintenance cost of any fleet; typically 20% of a fleet's budget."
Judging by two recent surveys conducted by Goodyear in the US, the message still isn't getting through.
In one of these, the tyre manufacture examined 2,000 pieces of tyre tread found at the roadside. Cohn says: "We call them alligators; 85% of the rubber had a failure that was inflation-related, and they were primarily trailer tyres." CM readers might be forgiven for thinking "retread". In fact 50% of the casualties were new tyres.
"Low air pressure causes irregular wear as the tyre footprint is all distorted," Cohn explains. "It reduces fuel economy and casing life [see graph, right]. With 20% under-inflation you're going to get 16% lower mileage, plus a lot more punctures because the rubber is softer."
Survey
For its second survey Goodyear checked the pressure in 1.100 semi-trailer tyres. The result was predictable. "The best pressures were at the front of the truck and they got worse going backwards," says Cohn.
"The left side of the vehicle had the highest pressure and on twin wheels the outside tyre was always better than the inside— and the right rear inside tyre on the trailer was always the worst." Even when a driver does check his tyre pressures, the reading can be valueless. "They have a $10 pressure gauge and when you drop it on the concrete it doesn't work," says Cohn. "You have to use a calibrated gauge and never check a tyre when it's hot—you'll get a 14% misreading with it. From a fleet point of view you should be checking tyres every day. Combine high-speeds with overloads and under-inflation and you're talking disaster."
Being able to calculate the true cost of neglecting tyres might help to change the average haulier's neglectful attitude. Goodyear has developed a CD-ROM specifically for fleet tyre management called "Tools to manage your fleet".
The Windows-compatible software includes Goodyear's Tyre Vehicle Tracking System (TVTrack) package,