P.S.I. Provides Solutions

Jun 30, 20243 min read

June 28, 2024 | By Craig Smith

TAC systems are installed in the road. (Image Courtesy of Idaho Transportation Department)

In February of 2023 the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) installed a Tire Anomaly and Classification System (TAC) at their Delco Port of Entry. TAC Systems are a way of screening semi-truck and trailer tires for damage or underinflation. As a truck pulls into the POE they will roll over the TAC system and the tires on that semi-truck and trailer will be assessed.

1,100 TRUCK TIRE PROBLEMS ID'd FEB-MAY, 2024 AT DELCO PORT OF ENTRY

Since the first system was installed in February 2023, over 1,100 tire anomalies have been detected per the ITD. This first TAC system was a just the starting point in an effort to make the roads and highways of Idaho safer. ITD plans to install 5 more of the TAC systems at different POEs around the state in the next few months.

The TAC system, while effective, brings up a couple issues for the drivers and companies that these semi-trucks belong to. One of those issues is if a tire anomaly is detected by the TAC system, the semi-truck could be placed out-of-service (OOS) until the tire is fixed. This not only has a huge time cost, but also a financial cost to the drivers and companies. Sitting on the side of the road waiting on someone to fix the tire could set drivers behind schedule, maybe even causing them to miss out on other loads to haul. They then bear the cost of not only fixing the tire, but the cost of what they may have profited from hauling another load.

CSA VIOLATIONS WILL INCREASE

Another issue that arises is CSA violations. With the TAC system catching many more tire anomalies at these POEs, drivers and companies CSA scores are going up. Companies that do not have a fix for their tires may continue to rack up the violations and see their CSA scores rise.

P.S.I. PRODUCTS CAN MITIGATE TIRE ISSUES

Automatic Tire Inflation Systems (ATIS), Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS), and TireVIEW LIVE Telematics are three solutions that P.S.I. offers to help combat tire violations that are rising due to the TAC systems.

P.S.I.'s ATIS has been an industry staple for over 30 years. Automatically helping to maintain a trailer's proper tire pressure and possibly prevent any tire pressure related violations. Not only will proper tire pressure help avoid violations, but also has many other benefits, including increased fuel economy, balanced tread wear, and lower chances of a blowout.

P.S.I.'s TireView TPMS ALERTS DRIVERS AND FLEET MANAGERS BEFORE THERE IS A PROBLEM

P.S.I. also offers TireView as TPMS and Telematics options can be easily retrofitted to ANY fleet vehicle. TireView helps monitor tire pressure and temperature, alerting the driver to any high or low pressure and high temperature events that may occur as the vehicle travels down the road, allowing the driver to get repairs before reaching a TAC system.

TireView LIVE ALERTS AID IN PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE

TireView LIVE can be easily retrofitted to ANY commercial vehicle in your fleet

When coupled with TireView LIVE, ATIS and TPMS information give ANY fleet the ability to watch and track their assets at any given time. The TireView LIVE dashboard allows fleet managers to watch all of their assets from a single dashboard and receive alerts in real-time to any tire related events that may occur. This allows fleet managers to know which trucks in their fleet may need maintenance before it's too late.