Continental Tire announced at the Technology & Maintenance Council’s spring meeting enhancements to its connected tire offerings.

New second-generation sensors will launch March 1. They’ll be identified by a yellow cap and add features such as mileage and battery readings, and Bluetooth connectivity.

“This gives us much more scalability,” said Saun Uys, head of Continental U.S. market – truck tires replacement. “We can start using mobile devices.”

The sensors collect data from inside the tires, and when scanned with a reader forward the data to a telematics unit or Bluetooth dongle and driver app. The data can be read through the ContiConnect web portal in real time on a computer or mobile device.

The ContiConnect live truck and trailer offering helps fleets track asset locations and tire condition. A new standalone trailer offering will be introduced this fall. It will help fleets in a drop-and-hook application to better track their trailers. The battery will last for up to a month when not connected to a power source. Fleets can see the condition of tires before deploying a truck to retrieve the trailer, ensuring the tires are in suitable condition for the road, rather than having a driver show up to grab a trailer with a flat tire.

New winter tire

Continental also revealed a new Conti Scandinavia HD3 tire that will be launched in the second quarter, specifically for harsh winter weather such as that seen in Canada. It’s a regional drive tire with directional M+S tread pattern designed for even wear and traction in snow and mud.

The tire will be available in 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 size, load range H and 25/32-inch tread depth. A matching retread will be introduced at the same time.