Released Sunday at the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) Annual Meeting in Nashville, Michelin says Tire Care is overseen by Michelin Commercial Service Network technicians. The program is audited regularly by Michelin to ensure consistent, high-quality work, and allows customers to use data to better understand their tire performance and control costs.
“Fleet operations and maintenance managers are looking for consistent, trustworthy tire monitoring and evaluation. Michelin Tire Care gives them the valuable information and technical insights they need to ensure they are getting the best ROI from their tire assets,” says Vic Koelsch, chief operating officer, Michelin Americas Truck Tires Division. “Tire Care is a valuable new component of our existing service offers – all of which are aimed at improving a fleet’s performance and ultimately its bottom line.”
Michelin says the program promises to benefit customers by reducing road service calls, improving Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores, maximizing fuel economy and increasing tire mileage. All of the maintenance data captured through the national network is made available to fleets in real-time via direct integration with their asset maintenance system.
Fleets today are currently averaging 1.5 tire-related downtime events per truck, per year, and Koelsch says Michelin believes Tire Care will bring those totals down.
Michelin says Tire Care offers two programs to choose from:
- Fleet Ready maximizes uptime by providing regular tire monitoring for air pressure, tread depth, valve caps, irregular wear, plus a full visual inspection scheduled at a pre-determined frequency chosen by the fleet. From this information, technicians provide actionable summary reports that highlight immediate needs and project tire replacement.
- Fleet Fit maximizes uptime and controls tire related costs by bringing fleets all the benefits of Fleet Ready, plus guidance on tire by wheel position and application, tire forecasting, budgeting and tire optimization by vehicle.
As an additional benefit for Fleet Ready and Fleet Fit customers, Michelin says the program also includes access to Road Ready – over the road tire monitoring to help fleets protect their vehicles on the go. Currently, Road Ready is exclusively available at Love’s Travel Stops in their Tirepass fuel lanes.
“This is what being a tire manufacturer and network is in 2015,” Koelsch says. “This is what being in the tire business today is all about.”
