One of the latest automotive developments to receive considerable attention over the last few years is the introduction of tire pressure monitoring systems.
Not long ago, monitoring tire pressures was something you did every once in a while with that funny contraption at the corner gas station that made those loud dings as you inflated the tires. Typically you wouldn't even do so unless you visibly observed a tire that was considerably flatter than the others. Fast forward just a few years and tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) not only represent an entire sub-industry, but they also have legislative backing requiring them on future vehicles all but ensuring a shot for any company that should get involved with their design, manufacture and distribution.
When it comes to TPMS, the single most significant development was the improvement and attainment of radio frequency identification or RFID. It is this type of short term radio signals that allow sensors inside of a car's wheel to send basic data to a receiver somewhere on the vehicle. Of course, TPMS was at first a luxury item destined only for the more expensive brands, the hardware itself has already achieved an economy of scale, which allows it to be delivered on a wide scale, i.e. to all vehicles after 2008.
The benefits of maintaining optimum tire pressures are clear. Safety and fuel efficiency are perennial hot topics in the industry and this simple fix addresses both by removing that pesky task of taking a knee once a month and manually checking all four tires with the tricky to use pressure gauge. If you haven't done so in a while, I recommend doing it as it often brings back some nostalgic feelings associated with Sears and the smells found only around an old gas station.
TPMS has been rolled out manufacturer-by-manufacturer starting with the more expensive models and is just now working its way down to more economically minded cars (see also the Tread Act of 2000). One Canadian company, however, has taken the technology one step farther and aimed their product at the fleet crowd, whether car or truck, which (as you can imagine) equates to a sizable market.
Rather than simply sending the data from the tire sensors to the onboard receiver alerting the driver of pressure discrepancies, this company's units actually send the information back to a central repository (originally in Ottawa) where it is then forwarded to the individual fleet's manager(s) via email, blackberry, cell phone, etc... Pretty nifty.
The idea is that while fleet vehicles may not receive the same amount of love from their drivers as an individual's car might, the problems associated with improperly inflated tires and their failures are often magnified by several degrees both physically (safety) and financially. When a tire can cost up to $2000 and a vehicle is being driven for a living, maintenance & repair as well as operating costs quickly make a strong argument for their extra care.
To see an article on the company (that now has a US office outside of Detroit), click here.
To see the company site, which features a cool ROI calculator, click here.
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