RL Automotive, a developer of digital analysis and sustainable technology solutions, is working to strike a perfect balance between safety, compliance and sustainability on UK roads through its unique tyre management platform. The platform has a range of monitoring systems that enable fleet managers across all commercial sectors to reduce running costs, increase safety and limit the environmental impact of their operations.
AutoAlign Aimed at Reducing Wheel Misalignment Issues
Recently launched in the UK, AutoAlign is the finalised result of a UK-based 2 million, 24-month development project, partly funded by the UK’s Clean Air Programme. A dynamic and unique real-time vehicle monitoring module designed to combat the problem of wheel misalignment, which RL Automotive believes is an issue unknowingly suffered by a third of all commercial vehicles and around half of all vans in the UK.
During the research process, RL Automotive concluded that today, on UK roads, 18.7 million vehicles are operating with incorrect wheel alignment, which is a potentially dangerous and costly condition that can go undetected for months. As wheel alignment isn’t part of scheduled maintenance, nor in MOT tests, many underestimate the extra fuel cost that misalignment generates, not to mention tread abrasion and excessive fuel emissions.
AutoAlign, RL Automotive explains, is a low-cost solution consisting of sensors fitted to the steering axle to detect wheel misalignment as soon as it occurs. RL Automotive’s cloud-based servers automatically alert fleet managers so that they can take immediate action, saving fuel costs and excessive vehicle emissions.
“This is all about good-old prevention rather than cure,” argues RL Automotive Director Mark Longden. “Using our unique telematics connectivity, we already have a mobile wheel and chassis alignment system in place. This new module uses bespoke wheel sensors in harness with F1-grade telematics to enable vehicle operators to remotely identify any misalignment issues before they become a serious and costly problem.”
Longden adds that if drivers can rectify misaligned wheels, they can make price savings, improve vehicle safety and significantly reduce their harmful emissions. “Just one degree out of alignment between the wheels and/or the vehicle centre will cause a 15% deficiency in tyre wear, and 3% increased fuel cost. Therefore, early corrective action will greatly reduce carbon output and keep PM 10 and PM 2.5 tyre particulate emissions to a minimum.”
AutoAlign is currently undergoing field trials with several strategic industrial fleet partners and is scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2022.
