There is nothing more
troublesome than an annoying puncture when you are out delivering cargo.
Unfortunately, most truck owners have accepted the fact that leaks are something
that they have to live with. Indeed, since the invention of pneumatic tyres,
vehicles have been plagued by those odd pieces of debris that lie
inconspicuously on the road but puncture a tyre the moment someone drives over
it.
Fortunately, not anymore!
Goodyear is bringing in a
brand new self-inflating type of tyre (especially for trucks). It is already
undergoing testing in North America, and they are promising to bring it to
global markets soon. So, in this blog, let’s take a look at what these new
tyres promise to offer.
Getting Rid of
The Issue in The First Place
Punctures are inevitable, and
although one can use tubeless tyres, it is hard to prevent the slow leaking
once the outer casing is breached. No matter where you are, car tyres in Bourne to Bombay suffer from this issue.
Certain military vehicles use
some form of self-inflating technology to increase or decrease the tyre
pressure or even re-inflate them from scratch, but this technology hasn't
passed on to the mass market yet.
Bringing in a
Change
Goodyear is all poised to
change that. The Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) is one of their leading
R&D sections for years. The AMT presented the idea of a self-inflating tyre
at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show (2012) in Germany. Their first prototype
was ready by 2012, again at their famous Topeka plant in Kansas, USA.
Wait, Only
For Trucks?
This technology will come
first to trucks and other long-haul, weight-carrying vehicles for now. One main
reason is their high energy consumption. As compared to a family vehicle, a
truck (or even a van) engine generates a lot more power. This additional output
can be transferred to the peristaltic pump inside the tyre that will re-inflate
it if there’s a puncture.
Another reason why this is
only for trucks (for now) is that they are much more prone to severe accidents.
Unlike an average passenger vehicle running on a city street, these trucks
often cover hundreds of miles on highways where the speed limit is often twice
that of a neighbourhood road. A sudden leak will force the driver to pull their
vehicle to one side. This increases the chances of an accident, along with the
probability of creating congestion on a busy highway. To make sure that doesn't
happen, Goodyear is targeting to remove the problem with the heavyweights of
the road first.
Don't worry,
though. Like all other innovations, this will soon trickle down to the
passenger car tyres.
A Puncture-Free
Future?
Yes, you can say that again.
However, this entire thing is still under development. There is a whole fleet
of trucks equipped with these tyres that are roaming the streets of the US and
Canada. Making them market-ready will take around 18 months, and if everything
goes right, you will soon see them in your neighbourhood garages which stocks
and sells truck tyres, like Bourne Car & Van Hire.
The fact that it
works without any external pump or attached gadgets makes it a favourite among
the truckers testing them. The entire system is self-contained inside tyres,
and reports say that all people involved in the testing are happy and willing
to participate in the project in the future too.
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