Since fitting Hendrickson’s load-based tyre pressure control system, the TIREMAAX PRO-LB, this Victorian transport operator has noticed a huge difference in tyre life.
Based in Inverleigh, Victoria – less than 30 kilometres west of Geelong – STS Bulk Haulage specialises in the transport of hay and grain.
The company predominantly delivers to grain sites during harvest time, with much of the work being into the Geelong terminal at this time of year.
Owned and operated by Steve Setterini, the business was started in 2002 and now runs a fleet of five trucks, which travel mainly throughout Victoria and into southern New South Wales.
The trailer fleet consists of A-double and B-double tippers, along with four sets of drop decks for carting hay.
Due to the nature of the work, Setterini says his trailers typically run empty about 30 per cent of the time – and therein was the attraction to the TIREMAAX PRO-LB. The system automatically adjusts the trailers’ tyre pressures based on whether the trailers are empty or loaded.
Hendrickson officially launched the TIREMAAX PRO-LB at the Brisbane Truck Show last year for the Australian market.
The TIREMAAX PRO-LB controller uses air spring pressure to determine axle load and adjust the output accordingly to optimise tyre pressures across various loading conditions to help improve fuel economy and extend tyre life.
The system builds on the capabilities of its predecessor, the TIREMAAX PRO, to automatically adjust trailer tyre pressures across changing climates (hot and cold, at sea level and altitude) and loading conditions (empty or loaded) for a better trailer tyre contact patch and improved performance.
Setterini already had the previous iteration of the system, the TIREMAAX PRO, fitted on his existing trailers, so decided to try Hendrickson’s newest offering in this space when he purchased his newest trailers.
“It was nearly five years ago that I first started using the original TIREMAAX PRO. I was one of the first customers to have that original system on a set of tippers,” said Setterini.
“All the tippers in the fleet are fitted with the TIREMAX PRO system but the latest ones have the new system, the TIREMAAX PRO-LB which inflates when loaded and deflates when running empty.”
STS Bulk Haulage is currently running a Kenworth T659 A-double and Kenworth Legend 900 B-double with the TIREMAAX PRO-LB system, with trailers manufactured by Chris’s Body Builders. Both combinations have been on the road now for about two years.
“I’ve definitely noticed a big difference on the tyres, with more even tyre wear and less scalloping,” Setterini said.
“We’ve still got some of the original tyres on those trailers now and they’ve done about 300,000km. We do a lot of stop-start and tight turns and that sort of stuff in our line of work.
“Before we were lucky to get 200,000km out of our tyres or just over that as the maximum.”
With Hendrickson’s TIREMAAX PRO-LB having already proved its worth for this small fleet operator, Setterini says he wouldn’t hesitate to have the system fitted to any new trailers he purchases in the future.
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