Trelleborg Wheel Systems has launched Pit Stop Line for its premium range industrial tyres. The system has been developed to help users identify when a forklift tyre is worn out and needs replacing. Establishing a reliable and measurable way to gauge this improves safety, cost savings, uptime and increases efficiency when servicing forklifts.
The Pit Stop Line is an orange line embedded into the tyre with the indictor visible on the tyre wall. This is designed to reveal itself across the surface of the tyre when the rubber is near the end of its lifetime. According to Trelleborg, the gauge allows users to replace tyres at the right time - not too late, which is unsafe and not too early, which is inefficient. Many users replace tyres when the tread has disappeared, unaware that the tyre is typically only 50% worn at this point.
Premature tyre replacement costs the industry millions of pounds per year. Over a five year lease, around 10 tyres are normally used. Using Pit Stop Line is said to allow users to reduce this to an average of eight tyres, over a fleet of 15 trucks this equates to around 30 extra tyres.
Interfit, a branch of Trelleborg carrying out neutral multi-brand service and tyre fitting, undertook a survey of tyres returned to its disposal centres and found that, on average, tyres were being replaced with 25% of their life still remaining.
Trelleborg's wheel systems business unit president, Jean-Paul Mindermann, says: "Tyres are often replaced with up to 25% of their life remaining simply because people are unaware that tread depth has nothing to do with the life of a solid tyre. Not only does this misconception cause a great amount of wastage, but it also costs companies thousands of pounds every year through unnecessary tyre replacement and machine downtime. Now users can be alerted when the tyre has around 100 hours of life left, so they can plan the replacement and eliminate those unnecessary costs."
Meeting safety standards
Tyres are a critical factor in machine and operator safety and, while 25% of them are replaced too early, 3% of tyres are replaced too late, putting thousands of forklifts and operators at risk. By developing a simple visual reference in the Pit Stop Line, Trelleborg believes it has helped make tyre safety easy.
The Pit Stop Line is visible before the wear line is reached. There are considerable safety risks if a forklift is driven past the wear line, leading to issues such as loss of load or rolling while cornering. The new system has been developed to encompass the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) Manual recommendations on tyre safety and enable 100% accurate tyre safety checks; said to be a "huge first" for the industry.
The system was designed in a bid to help improve machine uptime and service planning. With the Pit Stop Line appearing 100 hours or five to 15 working days before the tyre needs replacing, operators are able to plan their tyre changes in advance, eradicating unplanned downtime.
By simplifying tyre replacement, Trelleborg says that a fleet manager doesn’t need to wonder about when to organise replacements, as it is clear cut. Knowing a tyre has 100 hours of life left allows a replacement to be scheduled when most convenient and new tyres can be ordered well in advance.
As part of the Pit Stop Line, a relevant sticker is cured in to the tyre to notify the fleet manager about the nature of its lifespan, so they know what to expect.
Strong environmental credentials
Pit Stop Line is also said to offer environmental benefits, enabling a "dramatic reduction" in raw materials used, as well as the reduced carbon footprint associated with extraction, manufacturing, packaging and transportation. Replacing tyres less often means a reduced environmental impact.
Trelleborg recently introduced the product to the market at the CeMAT exhibition in Germany.
Mindermann concludes: "The Pit Stop Line has the potential to have a transformational effect on forklift operations, helping to minimise downtime, tyre waste and whole life costs – a true innovation. Tyre waste is now a thing of the past.”