Goodyear launches fleet management tool at TMC Show

ATLANTA—Goodyear has launched its Tire Optix program, a tire management tool and program designed to help commercial fleets monitor tire usage and wear.

The Akron-based tire maker demonstrated the product during its annual dealer meetings in late January in Nashville, Tenn., but rolled it out for more customers at the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) Show, held March 5-8 in Atlanta.

Tire Optix is part of Goodyear's Total Solution of products, services and fleet management tools, which is delivered by a nationwide network with the goal of helping fleet owners lower costs.

There are more than 2,300 Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Center and authorized Goodyear commercial tire dealer locations allied under the Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Network umbrella.

Johnny McIntosh, general manager, commercial business solutions at Goodyear, said checking tire inflation and tread level regularly are important truck tire management practices.

"Today, most tire technicians measure inflation and tread depth levels with a manual gauge, jot down the results on a piece of paper, and later may key the data into a computer — sometimes taking days to relay the information back to a fleet," McIntosh said.

"We saw an opportunity to streamline this procedure and increase speed and accuracy."

Goodyear truck tire technicians use a scanning device to record air pressure and tread depth electronically. The information uploads automatically via Bluetooth to a cloud-based platform, with password-protected storage. Data can be downloaded through the Goodyear Tire Optix app for immediate viewing.

McIntosh said the program enables faster, more accurate data collection, eliminating manual data entry.

"Fleets can see information in real time, enabling them to identify maintenance opportunities and immediately adjust their tire management programs, if needed," he said. "This helps increase their uptime and improve the utilization of their tire assets."