OVER-INFLATION LEAVING YOU DEFLATED?
Any fleet manager will tell you that apart from fuel costs, insufficient tyre maintenance accounts for the greatest operating expense. According to the latest research by the TMC (Tyre Maintenance Council), a tyre under-inflated by as little as 10% will have its tread life reduced by as much as 15%, this equates to roughly a R150 loss on every tyre worth R1000. However, these numbers don’t take into account the many other costs incurred from under inflated tyres.
For example: blow outs, call out fees, down time, theft, stock loss etc.
Under-inflated tyres run primarily on the edges, which cause uneven wear and ultimately weaker response times for steering, braking and accelerating – this being the leading cause of all tyre failure related accidents. When tyre pressure drops by as little as 20%, the tread life is reduced by as much as 30%, fuel consumption increases by 3% and over-flexing of the sidewall produces excess friction between the metal strands and the surrounding rubber. This can generate enough heat to, at the very least, increase the rate of deflation, and result in a blowout at worst.
Alternatively, over-inflated tyres cause excess road contact in the centre of the tyre and the reduced traction causes steering and braking problems as well as increased wear on the vehicles suspension. Altogether, inaccurate and incorrect tyre pressure causes nearly 80% of all tyre failure accidents and is responsible for 75% of all blowout accidents.
A properly inflated tyre wears evenly across the surface providing maximum traction and control AND you’ll save money with the prolonged tyre life.
FEELING DOWN TIME
You can hardly put a price on the excessive losses incurred during downtime. One always needs to take into account when a front line machines grinds to a halt, everything else also comes to a standstill, and the whole production line ceases. The losses from this situation are enormous and on a project can bring about serious fines and forfeits. There are many other hidden costs as well: Many trucks don’t carry spare wheels for security reasons, so when there is a flat tyre, they have to source another wheel from the depot, or use another vehicle altogether, and this further equates to time lost as well as the additional transport costs.
At first fleet owners thought PS2 Tyre Fluid™ was expensive, this was until they did a cost analysis and calculated how much time and money was saved using this revolutionary product.
Over the years, feedback from our fleet owners has been that they realized the moment they started running out of PS2 Tyre Fluid™ their down time increased and there was an obvious increase in the loss of control over tyre pressure.
Our experience has proven that PS2 Tyre Fluid™ keeps tyre pressure constant for at least 12 to 16 weeks depending on the initial state of the tyre.
A LOT OF HOT AIR
Many people don’t realize that air can escape through the miniscule pores of a tyre. Tyres are made up from a variety of elements compounded together by heat. The intense friction caused by contact with the road and the subsequent re-introduction of this heat onto the tyre can cause the disintegration of the various elements the tyre is made up of. Air then escapes from these molecular fractures created in the rubber compound.
PS2 Tyre Fluid™ was specifically designed to prevent air from escaping these pores by creating a seal.
TREADING LIGHTLY ON HEAVY DUTY
Heavy duty tyres are subjected to roughly 300 revolutions per km, which results in a tyre pressing down onto the tarmac around thirty million times every 100 000km (this equates to 33 return trips between Johannesburg and Cape Town). It is imperative that those moments of contact occur evenly and consistently so that the tyre can maintain the same shape throughout its life.
Even a slightly worn tread could make a decisive difference. A mere 30kPa variation in a dual tyre assembly, creating only a 21mm difference in circumference, will cause the “smaller” tyre to be dragged along by the larger one for an astonishing 3.9meters in every kilometer travelled – a 30kPa deflation can easily be incurred. Tyre pressure, even on a stationary vehicle, can drop that much in a month.
FLATULENCE RULES ON THE ROAD TO DESTRUCTION
A recent survey shows that as many as 30% of South African truck drivers rely on inadequate garage facilities to pump their tyres, even though most of these garages are not equipped with adequate compressors. As many as 85% of truck drivers don’t even know the correct tyre pressure for their vehicle. Many maintenance managers and crew members will happily send off a tyre inflated at 630kPa that should be pumped to 700kPa … it’s like burning money, but even if you have a particularly astute manager, it’s difficult to check on the state of the tyres if the vehicle is pushing an 18-hour shift.
