The SmarTire Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) by Bendix CVS is now commercially available as a factory-installed option on Class 8 tractors and trucks from Kenworth Truck Company and Peterbilt Motors Company, further solidifying Bendix’s position as the industry leader in OE-installed TPMS.
With wheel-end monitoring through SmarTire TPMS, drivers can view real-time tire alerts and pressure or temperature data via an in-vehicle display or integrated OE dashboard. Benefits to fleets and drivers include better fuel economy, extended tire life, enhanced vehicle safety, and improved compliance.
Created by Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC (Bendix CVS), the North American leader in the development and manufacture of leading-edge active safety technologies, the SmarTire technology monitors the pressure and temperature of each tire on a commercial vehicle to provide real-time tire status information to the driver or maintenance technician. The system reads pressure and temperature information directly from inside the tire and communicates wirelessly to an on-board receiver.
Bendix SmarTire TPMS in-vehicle technology warns a driver of tire-related problems, including alerts for low tire pressure, extreme low tire pressure, and extreme high temperature – before they pose a safety hazard. The exclusive temperature compensation feature allows the system to provide earlier warnings of a tire problem by compensating for increased tire temperature and pressure as the vehicle is driven throughout the day.
The SmarTire TPMS system displays actual tire pressure and temperature for each wheel location, along with a deviation value that shows the amount of over- or underinflation from each tire’s cold inflation pressure (CIP). This value represents a tire’s deviation from target pressure, regardless of tire temperature, an important feature because tire pressure rises when a tire’s temperature increases from use or outside conditions. As a result, drivers and fleets can accurately maintain tire pressures anytime – whether a truck has been sitting idle or has been driving for hundreds of miles.
Keeping commercial vehicle tires at proper inflation levels can deliver fuel savings, as well as reduce tire wear and help ensure the proper performance of active safety technologies, like Bendix ESP Electronic Stability Program full-stability system and Bendix Wingman Advanced – A Collision Mitigation Technology, when needed.
“Offering Bendix SmarTire TPMS reinforces the commitment by Kenworth and Peterbilt to provide the safest, most efficient, and highest-performing vehicles possible to the commercial vehicle market,” said TJ Thomas, Bendix director of marketing and customer solutions, Controls group. “SmarTire provides important tire data that allows fleets and drivers to make adjustments before problems arise. The result is improved fuel economy, tire life, safety, and ROI.”
To assist fleets with managing the increasing costs of both fuel and tires, SmarTire TPMS provides drivers with the necessary information to keep their tires properly inflated. Tire underinflation by as little as 10% results in a 1.5% drop in fuel economy; underinflation by 20% results in a 30% reduction in tire life.
Industrywide, underinflation and excessive heat are responsible for 90% of tire failures, and almost half of all emergency service road calls are tire related. Additionally, underinflated tires are considered violations in CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) scoring, which can adversely affect a fleet’s and driver’s bottom line.
SmarTire TPMS is also sold to the aftermarket as a complete kit, including sensors, antennae, receiver, wiring, display, and instructions. The complete kit provides easy and economical retrofitting of the system for almost any commercial vehicle application.
In addition to Kenworth and Peterbilt, Bendix SmarTire TPMS is available as an option at Volvo and International as well.
Bendix SmarTire TPMS, along with the trailer solution, SmarTire Trailer-Link TPMS, are part of the company’s ever-growing portfolio of technology that delivers on safety, plus other areas critical to fleets’ success. By delivering TPMS solutions and robust post-sales support, Bendix helps improve vehicle performance and efficiency, lowering ownership costs and increasing highway safety.
