Hankook, Revvo team up to trial 'smart' tire technology in California

SAN FRANCISCO — Hankook Tire America Corp. is teaming up with California tech company Revvo Technologies Inc. and a leading junk-hauling firm to conduct a real-world trial of Revvo's smart tire technology and predictive data analytics capabilities.

The pilot program will integrate Revvo's "cutting-edge" tire-monitoring technology with Hankook's SmartFlex truck tires to provide critical tire-specific data for 30% of Junk King L.L.C.'s vehicles located in California.

"Ensuring our trucks stay in pristine shape is critical for our operations. It is the key to providing the top-notch customer service we promise to each and every one of our customers," Junk King CEO Michael Andreacchi said.

"We're excited to be at the forefront of this intelligent-tire pilot program; having access to the tire data for our trucks is going to help us continue to stand out in the junk-removal industry."

While telematics and fleet management software already are being used in many applications by fleets in many fields, tires traditionally have not been a component closely monitored, Hankook said.

Revvo's advanced tire-sensing platform, which embeds a proprietary sensor inside each tire and captures real-time tire data, provides fleets the ability to fill this gap. The data collected are processed and turned into actionable insights, Hankook said, including predicted tread life, abnormal tire behavior, optimal tire maintenance intervals and settings and real-time alerts.

"At Hankook, we understand the need to combine great products with advancing technology to provide real-time solutions for our dealers and fleets, such as improved safety and reduction of down time to increase fleet productivity," Rob Williams, vice president of truck and bus radial sales at Hankook, said.

"As we continue to advance our product innovation and technology," he said, "this is the next logical step to provide real-time data to fleets, which will be accomplished by working closely with our dealer network as these digital solutions continue to evolve."

For this initiative, Hankook is supplying selected Junk King franchisees in California with SmartFlex Hybrid segment multi-purpose tires, which it said are designed to deliver high fuel efficiency and "powerful" traction.An undisclosed number of trucks are outfitted with Hankook Smartflex AH35 tires on the steer axles and DH35 tires on the drive axles, both size 225/70R19.5.

Hankook said information gleaned from this trial with Revvo will be used to help it expand its fleet management service business in the U.S. by developing intelligent tire technology solutions.

Revvo Technologies CEO Sunjay Dodani added: "Helping keep operators safe on the road is one of our main goals. We are excited to partner with Hankook to give a fleet like Junk King the visibility into the usage of their tires. Seeing it help prevent major incidents gives us confidence in our shared vision of smart, connected tires for every vehicle on the road."

Founded in 2018 by Mr. Dodani and Andrew Kox, Revvo Technologies describes its technology as a "real-time remote tire management solution that provides visibility into the status and condition of a vehicle's tires by making them smart and connected."

San Carlos, Calif.-based Junk King calls itself America's "greenest junk removal" service, pledging to recycle 60% or more of all junk collected. The firm is a franchisor, with 100 franchisees operating over 400 trucks in 33 states, including 20 locations in California.