AKRON—Goodyear is targeting its latest foray into the realm of predictive maintenance technologies, dubbed "SightLine," at cargo van fleets in North America and Europe serving sectors such as field service, construction and last-mile delivery.
Goodyear claims SightLine—which employs cloud-based algorithms using data generated from tire-mounted sensors to communicate with fleet operators—can help such fleets achieve "seamless, safe and reliable mobility."
Goodyear describes "SightLine" as a suite of proprietary cloud-based predictive maintenance technologies that can help fleet managers and drivers address a range of challenges, including predicting breakdowns, minimizing downtime and monitoring tire pressure and wear for enhanced safety and more cost-efficient mobility.
"Much like smart watches that monitor vitals like heart rates and oxygen levels, Goodyear SightLine's tire intelligence monitors the health of a tire," Chris Helsel, senior vice president, global operations and chief technology officer, said.
"Goodyear SightLine takes the mystery out of understanding tires and provides proactive mobility insights to communicate when tires need service or replacement."
Goodyear claims initial testing has shown integrating SightLine technology into a vehicle's control's system can reduce stopping distance loss by up to 30 percent. For now, the system is able to relay tire-related operating conditions, but Goodyear said the ability to "provide feedback on road conditions, enabling connected, autonomous mobility" is still in development.
Goodyear is launching SightLine now as an aftermarket service but said the system will be available later in 2021 to original equipment customers and emerging fleet and mobility providers.
The company said the system uses information gleaned from billions of test miles through pilot programs and its launch establishes the groundwork for a connected-tire future in which every tire provides intelligence. Goodyear has stated it believes it will be able to equip all new products with tire intelligence by 2027.
Fleets wishing to use SightLine need to purchase tires equipped with the proprietary sensors and subscribe to the SightLine service, which uses cloud-based algorithms to translate the data into actionable events and relay the information in real-time to the fleets and drivers.
Fleets will pay $72 to $96 per vehicle per year to access SightLine. The fee covers tires, hardware and the app.
The equipment is the sensor in the tire and telematics device that plugs into OBD (on-board diagnostics) outlet in the vehicle, allowing connection to the cloud. Drivers get alerts and information from cloud communications.
