Meritor to retrofit trailer tire-inflation system

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 28, 2017) — Heavy-duty trailer supplier Meritor Inc. will begin retrofitting trailers with its Meritor Tire Inflation System in a partnership with Velociti Inc., a provider of technology deployment services.

The new partnership seeks to overcome budget constraints and logistics concerns that are seen as the most common reasons fleets don't retrofit existing trailers with tire inflation systems, despite the recognized economic benefits of such systems, according to Velociti President Deryk Powell.

"Fleets recognize that automatic tire inflation systems provide proven, significant savings," Mr. Powell said at a press conference at the Technology & Maintenance Council meeting in Nashville.

"In spite of this, most fleets only adopt ATIS on new trailers at the time of purchase. This approach results in fleets missing out on the benefits of ATIS for large portions of their fleet."

Meritor claims the use of its MTIS can reduce a fleet's expenses by up to $1,960 per trailer because of extended tire life, reduced downtime and fuel savings.

The new Meritor-Velociti partnership — dubbed "Instant ROI for ATIS" — will offer fleets deferred billing during the installation portion of the project, plus extending payment terms on the entire package, Mr. Powell said. This plant "effectively utilizes the savings generated by the tire inflation system to pay for the solution," he added.

Krishna Natarajan, senior director, steering, suspension and drivetrain for Meritor Aftermarket, said the Velociti deferred billing and payment plan "makes a once unattainable MTIS retrofit solution now within reach for many transportation companies today," allowing them to take advantage of potential missed opportunities in substantial operational savings.

MTIS is an automatic tire-inflation system developed by Pressure Systems International Inc. (PSI) that keeps tires properly inflated using compressed air from the trailer's air system to inflate any tire that falls below a preset pressure whenever the vehicle is in operation.

Meritor claims MTIS improves tire life and fuel economy by helping to compensate for pressure losses resulting from typical tire punctures and other slow leaks. At the same time, it increases safety by reducing the risk of tire blowouts and the potentially costly and dangerous consequences.

Meritor can draw on data from systems in use by fleets over the past two decades that total more than 5 million tires.

When used together with Meritor's ThermALERT wheel-end heat-sensing technology option, the system also helps prevent wheel-end failures due to heat build-up.

Troy, Mich.-based Meritor is a global supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets.

Riverside, Mo.-based Velociti is a global provider of technology deployment services, specializing in the installation and service of transportation and networking technology products.

San Antonio-based P.S.I. develops automatic tire inflation systems and markets them in North America through Meritor.