AKRON (Sept. 19, 2012)—A new Air Maintenance Technology for truck tires will be unveiled by Goodyear at the 2012 Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung Commercial Vehicle Show, Sept. 20-27 in Hanover, Germany.
The Akron-based tire maker said its researchers have been working for more than a year on the application that it claims can aid in fuel savings and CO2 reductions while potentially improving performance and eliminating need for external inflation pressure intervention.
Tire-related costs are the single largest maintenance item for commercial vehicle fleet operators, Goodyear said, with more than 50 percent of all truck and trailer breakdowns involving a tire in some way. The company said its AMT mechanism allows tires to maintain constant, optimum pressure without the use of external pumps, electronics and driver intervention while providing improved fuel economy, prolonged tread life and optimized tire performance.
The tire maker estimated that an AMT-enabled system would optimize tread life since tires run underinflated by 10 percent decrease tread life by 9-16 percent.
A $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Vehicle Technology is helping speed up research, development and demonstration of the AMT system for commercial vehicle tires. A grant from the Luxembourg government for research and development also will help fund Goodyear's efforts in researching and developing the AMT system for consumer tires, the company said.