Aberdeen City Council is fitting Michelin Tyre Pressure Management System (TPMS) Light Fleet across 200 new Renault light commercial vehicles (LCVs), as part of a project to ensure its fleet runs on tyres inflated to the optimum pressures.
Contract Win for Wheely-Safe
Fleet Manager Willie Whyte says improvements to the Council’s tyre pressure management will enhance fleet safety, as well as deliver savings through better fuel efficiency and longer tyre life.
Michelin TPMS Light Fleet has been developed by UK technology company Wheely-Safe, an official Michelin licensee, and takes less than five minutes to install per vehicle. It has been specified on all new Renault Kangoo, Master and Trafic vehicles joining the Council fleet in 2019 – comprising a mix of panel vans, plus chassis cabs with Derby, dropside and tipper bodies.
Whyte explains: “We wanted to make it simpler for our drivers and technicians to check pressures – and with this system, they can check all four or six tyres on a vehicle in less than a minute. On the road, drivers will also receive an instant alert in the event of a tyre in distress through loss of pressure, fast leakage or an increase in temperature, which is often the sign of an imminent tyre failure.”
Michelin TPMS Light Fleet sees robust TPMS sensors replace traditional valve caps and auto-pair with a small solar-powered windscreen display to provide visual and audible driver alerts.
A contactless tyre pressure checker enables pressure readings to be taken without the hassle of connecting a gauge to the valve, which removes air and is unhygienic. This also makes it much simpler to check pressures on the inside tyres on twinned rear axles, which are typically harder to inspect and therefore more likely to cause tyre-related downtime at the roadside.
Whyte adds: “I’ve had experience with earlier generations of TPMS in two previous roles, and on both occasions, it brought significant benefits to the fleets I was managing.
“Aberdeen City Council is constantly looking for new ways to deliver maximum value for taxpayers, and I’m confident our focus on tyre pressure management will deliver savings to our vehicle operating costs. It also boosts safety and reinforces our duty of care to drivers.”
Later this year Aberdeen City Council plans to trial a second Wheely-Safe system on its heavy goods vehicles. Michelin Wheel Safe combines tyre pressure management with the world’s first in-motion driver alert system to detect the onset of wheel loss before detachment, as well as warning the driver to potential brake or hub issues that could lead to a fire if unchecked.
