Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/599553
Product Showcase www.jobsfor teams.com JOBS for TEAMS | 36 TyreAid designs tire pressure equalization device by Aaron Huff E merging technologies in the freight spot market are starting to deliver capacity and pricing information on demand, but news of this and other advanced software systems often overshadow some very practical technologies fleets are now using to lower their operating costs. Mini Lundqvist has been on the front lines advancing the technology. Like other TPMS products, he started with sensor caps that were designed to fasten onto valve stems and flash if the air pressure dropped below a minimum PSI. Sometimes the caps leaked, he says. Also, the caps required extra time to remove in order to check tire pressure and inflate. The sensors did save time by eliminating unnecessary pressure checks but overall time saving was probably null, he says. Furthermore, drivers had no way to detect a sudden leak while vehicles were in motion. So Lundqvist, an engineer from Finland, went back to the drawing board. He interviewed fleet managers, truck drivers and spent time on the job with maintenance personnel. "I created a wish list from everybody," he says. "To my amazement I was able to fill every wish." The product he developed, TyreAid, is mounted on the hub with a hose assembly that equalizes the air pressure between dual tires. At 110 PSI, a difference of 5 PSI in either tire causes uneven wear for the under-inflated tire. The extra drag is the equivalent of 13 feet per mile, studies show. Tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), for instance, have come a long way since the early versions, which tended to create as many problems as they solved.