The Automotive Blog

Tyre Pressure Monitoring is a crucial element of health and safety for any business as underinflated tyres cause unecessary expense on vehicles running less efficiently and at the very worse in the event of a blow out they can cost lives!

aide automotive provides two tyre pressure monitoring products. PressurePro, a wireless, tyre air pressure sensor screws onto the tyre’s valve and Air Alert, a simple warning device that blinks when a loss of PSI occurs.

Click aideautomotive for a full portfolio of all our products

Here are some quotes from people in the tyre industry and media:

* “Underinflated tyres can cause excessive heat build up and result in a multitude of problems.”  Firestone Tire Co., Consumer Tire Recall Bulletin, November 2000

* “A properly inflated tyre, on average, will have a savings of about five percent on fuel over a tire that is improperly inflated.”  Harvey Brodsky; Managing Director, Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB), as quoted in Fleet Maintenance, March 2006

* “Of the 3 top retreaders in the U.S., Bandag; Goodyear & Oliver Retreading Systems; all agree that proper tyre maintenance is the key to a good retread.”  David Cullen; Sr. Editor, Fleet Owner Magazine

* “Pressure maintenance is still the foremost thing that a fleet can do to get the most out of its tyres. Pressure maintenance is a very labor intensive process and very expensive.”  Guy Walenga ; Commercial Products Engineering. Mgr., Bridgstone/Firestone

* “Nothing beats good maintenance”  Ray Labuda; V.P. of Tyre Technology, Hankook Tire of America

* “Several maintenance practices are critical, especially tyre inflation.”  Jerry Strigle; Goodyear Tyre & Rubber

* “Most fleets that have significant problems with tires don’t have a program to insure tyres are run at the correct pressures.”  Bill Forsch; Yokohama Tyre Corp

* “Underinflation especially effects the success rate for retreading. It damages casings. Retreading can wind up being expensive for fleets that don’t monitor air pressure.”  Bill Forsch; Yokohama Tire Corp.

* “Incorrect inflation can lead to heat damage of the casing; fatigue in the belts, sidewalls and beads; irregular tread wear; premature tread loss; reduced braking efficiency, and even lower fuel economy due to increased rolling resistance.”  Guy Walenga ; Commercial Products Engineering. Mgr., Bridgstone/Firestone

* “A tyre will rotate 500-plus times every mile, and with each rotation, every point in the tyre is flexing. When a tyre is underinflated, this flexing is more pronounced. That hastens tyre fatigue by generating more heat than if the proper pressure level were maintained.”  Guy Walenga ; Bridgstone/Firestone

* “Tyre Inflation tops everyone’s list of critical tyre-maintenance elements.”  David Cullen; Sr. Editor, Fleet Owner Magazine

* “Proper inflation is a must. The most critical factor in tyre maintenance is proper inflation. Running a tyre underinflated can have serious consequences. Over-inflation can also cause serious damage to a tyre.”  TMC, The Maintenance Council; Guide to Tyre-wear Conditions an Causes.

aide automotive are the UK distributors for PressurePro, the live TPMS for all vehicles.

Tyre Pressure Monitoring

Motor Caravan magazine  realise the importance of a good tyre pressure monitor by featuring the Air Alert in their competition give aways.  Air Alert takes the guesswork out of monitoring the pressure of a vehicles tyres by alerting the driver to a drop in the recommended PSI.

aide automotive has two tyre pressure monitors that will assist. To view our full range of automotive products visit aideautomotive

From 2012 all cars in Europe will have tpms as a standard fixture. The European Commission has  introduced this as standard to try and reduce the number of accidents caused by tyre blow-outs and to encourage greener driving.

TPMS alerts drivers to under-inflated tyres on a vehicle.

The Correct tyre pressure on car reduces the risk of accident, reduces fuel consumption and prolongs tyres lifes.

However if you have a car without these new systems included you can still manage your tyre pressure effectively with a tyre pressure monitor.

Visit aideautomotive for more details

aide automotive’s tyre pressure monitor has just received coverage in two magazines. Caravan magazine gave away Air Alert to competition winners, as it’s a great product to check the tyre pressure on Caravans.  Then New Car Net also gave away Air Alert to it’s readers too.

aide automotive has two tyre pressure monitors that assist companies in ensuring their vehicles have the correct tyre pressure.  If tyres are either over or under inflated their is a huge risk of employees having an accident, so a tyre pressure monitor is a essential item to ensure the driving workforce is safe. For a small investment in either PressurePro or Air Alert a company can soon reap back the cost as vehicles function more efficently if tyres are at the correct PSI.

The Corporate Manslaughter Act’s first charge happened in April this year, a director was charged with manslaughter after not taking due care. This man could possibly be jailed for life if he is convicted.

The majority  of businesses take Health and Safety seriously, but how many can honestly they could demonstrate they’ve have done everything possible to safe keep their workforce and communicated their Health and Safety policy to all employees.

In the event of an organisation being accused of an offence under the  Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007, they need to have the information to demonstrate they are not guilty

So how can a company do this?   The new Health and Safety area of the aide automotive website showcases a number of products from Brake Testers, Tyre Pressure Monitors and Duty of Care issues. These devices are the tools a business needs to demonstrate they have done everything possible to protect their employees whilst driving on company business.

With tyres for an off road vehicle costing anything from £40k, tyre pressure monitoring is essential to avoid unnecessary blowouts. By investing as little as £400 (prices start from) in a PressurePro™ device, this could save a quarry thousands of pounds in replacement tyres.

PressurePro as used on quarry vehicles

Tyre Pressure monitoring is an important procedure for any quarry business. With

Advantage PressurePro™ are a leading provider and pioneer of Tyre Pressure Monitoring systems. PressurePro, which continually reads tyre pressures and reports readings via Radio Frequency (RF) Signals to a monitor in the cab, allows users to view current pressures whether the vehicle is parked or moving. Audible and visual alerts warn drivers to low or high tyre pressures, allowing drivers to report to a manager before tyres cause health & safety issues or plant incidents. Further to adding greater safety and convenience to vehicles, other significant benefits from maintaining the correct pressure include increased fuel efficiency, extended tyre life, decreased maintenance, diminished downtime and reduced emissions.

PressurePro™ has been a huge success in the USA and is now being used by more quarries around the world

We’ve been using the PressurePro wireless Tyre Pressure Monitoring System for several months at our Osborne gold-copper mine Queensland, as well as one of our mines in Western Australia. The product has been found to be accurate, tough and easy to install, no special tools needed. Unlike manual systems, it operates 24/7, sitting or while the vehicle is moving. Drivers have been alerted to under-inflated tyres several times, thereby saving both tyres and downtime.

Dave Pafflin, Mobile Plant Maintenance Superintendent of Barrick Osborne gold-copper mine, Australia

PressurePro has been a huge success in many international markets thanks to the significant additions of safety and savings that it provides. aide automotive ltd are pleased to be established as the sole supplier for PressurePro™ in the UK.

aide automotive ltd  are the UK distributors for PressurePro.

TyreSafe, the organisation for driving awareness of the dangers of driving on worn or defective tyres has introduced a new section to it’s website.  Recognising the importance of tyre pressure monitoring to truck companies they have dedicated a whole section to Truck Tyre Safety.

TyreSafe state that in 2007, defective or under-inflated tyres were a contributory factor in the death of 43 motorists in the UK, and played a part in a further 984 accidents. As for Trucks VOSA documented an MoT failure rate of 36.5 percent in 2007/8, with ‘condition of tyres’ ranking as the second most common failure defects . The VOSA statistics reveal that the percentage of failure defects attributed to tyres rose from 4.9 percent in 2006/7 to 5.6 percent in 2007/8 among HGV motor vehicles.

All of this stresses the importance of Tyre Pressure Monitoring through devices such as PressurePro which takes the guesswork out of determining the correct tyre pressure of a vehicle.  Monitoring Tyre Pressure is particularly important for all commercial vehicle operators.

Click here for aide automotive’s full product range

Gloucestershire Council released a statement on their website highlighting Safe Driving while at work.

There is a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to ensure as far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees while at work. Employers and employees also have a duty to ensure that others are not put at risk by work related driving activities.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations 1999 also apply and require that risk assessment are undertaken for activities with significant risks, and that effective management controls are put in place and implemented.

When considering driving safety there are also a number of road traffic laws to take into account, including the Road Traffic Act.

This document details how managers should manage occupational driving and details staff (driver) responsibilities. It explains the processes to be followed in evaluating the risks associated with driving at work and the control measures that need to be in place to mitigate those risks, which include driver familiarisation and training, driver documentation checking etc.

X-Driven is an ideal tool to prove who is a Safe Driver, simply sitting on your dashboard or attaching to your windscreen the X-Driven is powered by the cigarette lighter or can be fully wired into the vehicle cab. The X-Driven will record and store data for any sudden ‘shock’ movements such as harsh braking, vehicle impacts or excessive acceleration. The X-Driven can also be dismounted and carried to record damage at the rear of the vehicle or general accident information such as loading or delivering damage.

aide automotive ltd promote safe driving through all its own fleet and UK companies.