About Us

AIR CTI started nearly 20 years ago, to develop a better Central Tire Inflation system. Chet Cline was a multi skilled man with decades of experience, from machining and welding, to heavy truck mechanic. He has built and customized his way around many different vehicles, building some awesome machines. CTI, 20 years ago, wasn’t very good. The systems were unreliable, heavy, complicated, and expensive. Local logging transport had proven the many benefits, but were always repairing systems.

To improve something, first you have to find out what doesn’t work. Chet travelled from Manjimup, Perth and Kalgoorlie in the west, to Bombala and Eden in the far east, to talk with drivers and owners to learn what didn’t work, what broke, or wore out.

In many ways, Australia is a great proving ground. Everything down under is expensive. Trucks, tires, fuel, it’s all too expensive. This makes saving money even more important, and CTI, even though it was expensive too, saved money. The logging trucks proved CTI’s worth. “Look at these tires. They’re as smooth as a baby’s bum.”, “Without CTI, I couldn’t even get to the job.” One old timer, after using AIR CTI, told Chet; “I thought this stuff was just something else to go wrong, but, now. I simply don’t know how we did the job without it.”

Existing systems weren’t very good. The rotating glands (rotators) were designed for working on paper mills. The bearings filled up with dirt and died. No protection from dirt, mud, or snow. The mounts ruined hubs, and weakened drive flanges. The tire hoses were too long, and rubbed. The drop pipes were simply air lines, some are standard nylon lines with olives, like you’d use to plumb a workshop. The control systems were complex, and needed constant servicing. And the dash mounted controllers looked awful, blocked the driver’s view, and needed multiple button pushes to control. One owner driver said; “I spent a quarter of a mill on this truck, and look at that awful thing cluttering my workplace.” They were easily damaged, unreliable, expensive, and required a lot of TLC. Yet, they still saved money, reduced maintenance and break downs, and had lots more traction. “I wouldn’t drive a log truck without CTI.” This comment was universal amongst the many drivers.

AIR CTI developed their own short rotators with much larger bearings, and multiple layers of bearing protection, to ensure a long productive life. Mounting systems were improved, making life easier for everyone. Tire hoses were cut to fit. Self sealing quick connects eliminate air loss, making tire changing much easier. Push loc and Snizentite drop pipes are superbly tough. Isolators were invented, significantly improving safety. Control systems were simplified, and dash controllers were compact, easy to use, solid state, and self diagnostic. Cost was halved, with guarantee’s tripled, and then some.

Seventeen years of commercial operation has improved every component numerous times. Operating over thousands of miles of corrugations, 4 foot apart, and 8 inches high, will test anything. Working 24/7 ensures every component is well and truly tested. Nothing else compares with AIR CTI, and this is proven by the thousands of systems working throughout Australia, and around the Asian basin, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Africa. Systems are also working in Italy, northern Africa, The Emirates, Canada, and the USA. AIR CTI has at least 80% of the Australian market. Over 95% of Australian logging trucks run CTI. In the last few years, many states require CTI on log trucks, simply because of the environmental and infrastructure savings.

Other markets include power line support trucks, a very big market down under, bulk grain trucks, gravel trucks, agitators, fertilizer spreaders, and road trains. Bee keepers love AIR CTI, significantly reducing bee damage, while improving access to back country. It’s simply amazing how many bee keepers there are. “A mate wanted to visit my hives. I had to go and rescue him, in my conventional truck. He couldn’t get in with his Land Cruiser.”, “I used to drive in as far as i could, then transfer hive by hive with my off road fork lift, taking hours and hours. Now, I drive in, with the hives and the fork lift. I’m saving hours every move.”

(ETSA), a power supply company supplying the state of South Australia, tested AIR CTI a few years ago. After a big job in out back SA, the average repair cost was $30,000 per truck. The AIR CTI equipped truck did one tire. Then the drivers refused to drive the other trucks. Without AIR CTI, they were too rough to ride in. We went back and fitted every service truck they have, and every new truck since then!

It’s a great business to be in. Customers tell us, praising AIR CTI, almost every day. “You should have seen Joe’s jaw drop when I went around him, and I had two trailers to his one.”, “The tread came off and destroyed the guards (fenders), the tail lights, but that pipe was still feeding air to the tires.” “Here’s the details on a new truck working our logging area. He’s tearing up our tracks. Ring him and sell him some CTI.”, “I couldn’t stand up, it was that slippery, but the mini road train just walked out. Amazing.” AIR CTI benefits the owners, the drivers, the roads, and the environment. Everyone wins. “I couldn’t afford to haul logs without AIR CTI.”