I’ve crossed the Simpson twice, done the Canning, the Gunbarrel, been to the top, and the Vic high plains is my back yard.   Every year, news reports someone stranded and lost in some out back place when their vehicle got stuck.

If they let air out of their tyres, almost all of them would be alive and kicking, somewhere in comfort.  If they only knew how easy it is.

In the middle of the Canning Stock Route, three Landcruiser's were tearing up the track in front of us.  We heard them bragging on their CB radios, ridiculing those that drop their tyre pressures.   When we caught up with them, they said, ‘yeah, of course we dropped our tyre pressures.   We’re only running 26 psi!’   I was running under 10 psi.

The ECO-CTI or HYWAY CTI controls makes monitoring and adjustments to tyre pressures as you drive, as easy as turning up the volume on your radio

Reducing tyre pressures will significantly reduce vibration and loads, making their ‘Extreme’ vehicle much easier to drive, much safer, significantly reduce warranty damage, and extend the vehicle life considerably.  

Bottom line:  AIR CTI will save lives, will make driving easier, will automatically keep tyres inflated, and will warn of any problems.   AIR CTI reduces damage to tyres, to caravans, and to the tow vehicle.  AIR CTI should be on every vehicle that goes out back.

Whole-body vibration (WBV) comprises the transfer of relatively low-frequency environmental vibration to the human body through a broad contact area. Motion sickness is associated with frequencies below 1 Hz. The result is a condition in which the body or a part of the body will vibrate at a magnitude greater than the applied vibratory force. In response, muscles will contract in a voluntary or involuntary manner and cause fatigue or a reduction in motor performance capacity.Driver stress leads to accidents.

Resonance of the body or its parts due to WBV causes adverse health effects, especially with chronic exposure. These include interference with or irritation to the lungs, abdomen or bladder. Effects of WBV on vision were reported as early as 1965. A 1994 Australian study identified WBV and vehicle jarring as a contributing factor to back pain in the mining industry and as a significant risk to mobile equipment operators.

AIR CTI's Central Tire Inflation System makes driving easier, smoother, and less stressful. AIR CTI reduces impacts and vibration, saving the driver from whole body damage and mental stress. High vibration levels also increase driver stress, leading to more accidents. By increasing traction, AIR CTI reduces vibration, and vehicle control, everyone is safer, healthier, more productive and happier.

Incorrect tire pressures in the transport industry substantially reduces safety, while causing untold damage to drivers, and is damaging our world unnecessarily. This problem affects the stopping ability and predictability of every heavy truck on the road. This problem amplifies every pothole and bump, damaging driver’s health, while also our damaging trucks, our roads and our infrastructure. This problem wastes one tire out of three, shortens the life of expensive equipment, and causes unnecessary waste in repair and maintenance, further damaging our environment.

Truck safety simply cannot be optimized while we continue to ignore the basics. No amount of technological aid will fix bad design or operations.

 

Tires, the single most important component on any truck is almost always under-used. Manufacturer recommendations are ignored, leading to waste and countless problems.

Most truck tire manufacturers have truck tire load to inflation recommendations on their web sites. If not, they refer to the US Tire and Rim Association handbook. Even Australia has a Tire and Rim ‘standards’ book. Yet, everyone ignores them, reducing control, safety, driver health and comfort, profits while increasing environmental damage.

AIR CTI's Central Tire Inflation System puts the driver in control. With AIR CTI, the driver can improve traction and control, by simply pushing a button, changing the tire pressure to suit the load and the road. With the correct pressures in the tires, there is a dramatic reduction in wear and tear on the vehicle, with reduced tire failures and elimination of most breakages.

Everyone is safer

Modern trucks have many items that were once considered ‘unnecessary’. Power steering, heaters, air conditioning, suspension seats, air suspension, auxiliary air con, disk brakes, tilt steering, ABS, and ELB, these are just some examples. There was even controversy when radial tires came in.

Central Tire Inflation (CTI) or Adjustable Tire Pressure is today’s “don’t need it” product.   Comments heard over the last 15 years include “you can’t go that low, the tire will come off the rim”, “that’s just another thing to go wrong”, “I don’t need it, I never get bogged” and “I’ll fit it when they force me to”  

Facts are, every major tire manufacturer and every tire association recommends adjusting tire pressures to suit the load on the tire, and to suit the road conditions.  Every reputable tire manufacture has load to inflation tables explaining correct pressures, and they also explain the huge waste that even 20% over or under inflation causes.

Yet, almost every steer tire is under inflated, and almost every drive and trailer tire is over inflated.   Running ’traditional’ tire pressures will waste the owner $5,000 to $15,000 per year per truck. Indirect costs are: increased down time, increased maintenance costs, and reduced operating times, all of which add up over time.  Sitting in the shop isn’t earning any money.   Downtime costs twice, extra expenses, and less income.
Any truck running off the road, or changing their loads, or running empty, needs CTI.   Any truck that needs traction, is being hammered by vibration, is loaded only half the time, or suffers tire damage or short life, absolutely need Central Tire Inflation.

We all must live on this planet. our roads, our air and our lives take a beating every day. Rough roads, plagued with ruts and corrugations, overly noisy highways and streets making it harder to relax, and our air and water are being contaminated by dust, silt, and rubber particles.

Waste simply should not be tolerated in any industry.   We must minimize the cost of living here.  Wasting one tire out of three bad business and bad for our environment.   Science has proven that the millions of tonnes of microscopic rubber particles are damaging our world.  Getting rid of all the dead tires is a major problem, with huge stock piles ‘stored’ because we don’t know what to do with them.

Waste of trucks is equally bad.   Prematurely destroying them with unnecessary vibration costs our world dearly.   Premature failure of suspensions, axles, wheel bearings, shocks, springs, chassis, and trucks is bad business.  Optimizing tire pressures for the load and road makes everything last longer, costing us less, both in money, and in environment damage.

Hammering our infrastructure into dust by high impact high pressure tires, vibrating and bouncing, costs every citizen, while increasing the high environmental cost of massive road work repairs.   We can’t afford it, our country can’t afford it, and our future can’t afford the damage and waste.

We can’t afford the human suffering and cost.  High accident rates, high human turn over, short life spans, and high human suffering effect every citizen.   Optimizing tire pressures is safer, healthier, smarter, more profitable, and greener.

 

AIR CTI is the only practical and affordable tool that makes all of this possible and effective.  AIR CTI is an investment in our future.

THE PROBLEM: Virtually all transport ignores tire manufacturer operating recommendations to the enormous detriment of the industry.

The benefits of optimizing tire pressure to the load, cross-referenced against terrain conditions has been overlooked in the transport industry. Traditionally heavy truck tire pressures have been based on full load conditions and were based around the original cross ply tire.High tire pressures were necessary on those old style tires to make them survive. Radial tires are totally different. The new technology is still to filter through to the industry resulting in antiquated work practices and thinking pressures.

SOLUTION: To obtain the optimal tire pressure the driver weighs each axle or group of axles if loaded equally with the same number or tires, and consults a Load to inflation table for the optimal tire pressure. Run that pressure for that load. If the load changes, change the tire pressure. Steer tires often benefit from a 10% increase. This can be easily done at the company weighbridge. The driver needs to consider Drive, Steer and Trailer individually.

In an ideal world, the driver then adjusts in relation to terrain conditions. As the driver changes load and/or terrain conditions an adjustment needs to be made. This must be done every time.

Most truck tires are overinflated and as a result the tire footprint is sub-optimal. This does not allow the tire to perform at its maximum level. This leads to early deterioration of the tire, fuel inefficiencies, traction deficiencies, safety issues and control problems.