NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Michelin Americas Truck Tires Division has announced the launch of Tire Care, a fully digital, nationwide fleet tire-monitoring program that the tire maker says will help maximize uptime and control costs.
“Tire Care is a valuable new component of our existing service offers — all of which are aimed at improving a fleet’s performance and ultimately its bottom line,” said Vic Koelsch, chief operating officer of Michelin Americas Truck Tires Division.
The Tire Care product offers two programs from which carriers can choose:
- Fleet Ready, which provides tire monitoring for air pressure, tread depth, valve caps and irregular wear, plus a full visual inspection scheduled at a pre-determined frequency chosen by the fleet.
- Fleet Fit maximizes uptime and controls tire-related costs by giving carriers the benefits of Fleet Ready, plus guidance on tire by wheel position and application, tire forecasting, budgeting and tire optimization by vehicle. Carriers are eager to improve tire mileage and avoid road service problems that can affect their scores under Compliance, Safety, Accountability, Koelsch said at a Feb. 15 press conference here.
“Most of the fleets we talk to today are talking about CSA and uptime improvement, and a lot of them are starting to measure their downtime relative to tires,” he told Transport Topics. “Tires are the major contributor to downtime, and they’re trying to keep the fleets up and running. They’ve not necessarily saying I want a digital solution to that but they want real-time, actionable solutions, and that’s what we’re trying to provide.”
Attacking downtime issues with digital diagnostic tools is a technology that is progressing rapidly, with an increasing number of components on a truck attached to hi-tech recorders and diagnostic tools, he said.
“We’re talking about now having millions of records that we’re going to be able to benchmark and understand what’s going on so much better.”
