Tire Pressure Monitoring and Maintenance Systems Performance Report

The overall objective of this research is to document the performance and operational characteristics of leading-edge technological approaches for monitoring and maintaining commercial vehicle tire pressures. Previous work sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has documented the effects of improper tire inflation on both safety and direct operating costs. Improper tire inflation leads to accelerated tire wear (which subsequently leads to compromised braking, poor handling, and reduced stability), increased fuel consumption, increased propensity for catastrophic tire failures (blowouts), increased dangerous roadside debris, and increased road calls to repair deflated tires. In addition, FMCSA’s research has shown that despite these well-understood consequences, many fleets do not practice or enforce adequate tire maintenance practices—mostly because checking and maintaining proper inflation is a time-consuming, inconvenient chore. As a result, fleet operators are often unaware of tire pressure issues with their vehicles. Tire pressure monitoring and inflation systems provide a means for greatly simplifying the task of checking and maintaining tire pressure. However, there is significant product diversity in the marketplace in terms of tire inflation and monitoring system design and technological approach. Further, the performance, accuracy, and overall adequacy of these systems has not been well documented in a controlled and systematic fashion. This study focuses on testing and documenting the overall performance of a representative sample of commercial tire inflation and monitoring products. The study presents a technical examination of the accuracy, responsiveness, resolution, and reliability of the various tire pressure inflation and monitoring systems. This knowledge should prove useful to fleet operators in evaluating the capabilities and limitations of alternative approaches to tire pressure monitoring and maintenance, and may be helpful in determining specifications for future truck purchases. The information should also be useful to tire pressure maintenance and monitoring system suppliers and commercial vehicle manufacturers that are developing new tire pressure monitoring systems. To this extent, the objectives for the study include providing fundamental research results to industry stakeholders concerning various means of monitoring tire pressure.

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• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/150
• Corporate Authors:

  Booz Allen Hamilton, Incorporated

  8283 Greensboro Drive
  McLean, VA  United States  22102

  Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

  Office of Bus and Truck Standards and Operations, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Fleet Tire Consulting

  3508 Wedgewood Drive
  Rochester Hills, MI  United States  48306
• Authors:
  • Brady, Stephen
  • Nicosia, Brian
  • Kreeb, Robert
  • Fisher, Peggy
• Publication Date: 2007-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Project Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 132p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accuracy; Commercial vehicles; Motor carriers; Reliability; Tire pressure; Tire pressure monitoring systems; Vehicle maintenance
• Subject Areas: Highways; Motor Carriers; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01522198
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FMCSA-PSV-07-001
• Contract Numbers: DTFH61-99-C-00025, Task Order 8
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 22 2014 3:04PM