Death of the flat tyre

In news that will make the day of motorists and fleet managers everywhere, Goodyear has been busy developing a tyre that monitors its own pressure and automatically inflates using just a regulator and tube. The tyre is the result of Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) development, which has been in the works since 2011.

All components of the ATM system are contained within the tyre itself. A drop in pressure triggers the regulator to open a valve and let in air, pumping up the tyre to the correct PSI measurement.

ATM uses a peristaltic pump to maintain tyre pressure, whereby optimum pressure is programmed in before the tyres are fitted, based on the individual recommended PSI. An internal regulator senses when inflation pressure drops, which then opens to allow airflow into the pumping tube. As the tyre rolls, it flattens the tube pushing air through the valve and into the tyre cavity to inflate it to the optimised pressure.

According to Goodyear, tyre-related costs are the single largest maintenance item for commercial vehicle fleets. Only 44% of all truck tyres are within five PSI of their target pressure and 7% are underinflated by 20 PSI or more.

Testing on trucking fleets will be carried out over the next 18 months in the United States and Canada.