ATLANTA, GA – Continental’s new ContiConnect digital tire monitoring platform gives fleets a tool to track tire pressure and temperature through a single web portal.

The underlying dta behind low-pressure alerts and high temperature alerts is collected via sensors mounted on the inside of the tire. Those sensors communicate wirelessly with a yard reader. Every time the truck enters or exits the fleet yard, the reader collects the data and transmits it to a web portal via a cellular network.

Continental says the platform will save fleets time and money, as it will streamline tire maintenance programs, improve fuel efficiency, and prevent costly breakdowns.

“Thirty-four per cent of fleets’ tires are still under-inflated,” said Paul Williams, Continental’s executive vice president – commercial vehicle tires for the Americas. “Correctly inflated tires mean 1% more fuel savings, 15% savings on tire wear, and 20% more life in your casing. And if you don’t (properly inflate your tires and monitor them), you’ll end up on the side of the road. Most fleets spend more money having tires repaired at the side of the road, than they do in the terminals.”

Williams explained the tire sensors can detect things like creeping air loss, one of the major causes of tire failure, before it would typically be noticed in a pre- or post-trip inspection.

“Since we introduced our beta system to our 16 test fleets, we’ve had – within the first 100 days – 4,000 alerts that have caused us to have an action to repair those tires before a breakdown,” he said.

Ideally, Williams said, the system should be used by fleets who “are coming and going from their terminals on a regular basis so think dump trucks, waste haulers, school buses…because these trucks will constantly pass by the yard reader, it will communicate and get all the information off the tire, and alert the platform.”

Tire sensors can be retrofitted onto a fleet’s existing tires through a simple installation process, as well, Continental said.