Northern Ireland livestock haulier, Frank Hanna (pictured) said fitting ContiPressureCheck (CPC) systems to his Volvo artic and drawbar trucks has resulted in improvements to his tyre checking routine.
Maghery, Co Armagh-based Hanna Livestock, which operates transports pigs, sheep and cattle, uses the ContiPressureCheck system which has tyre sensors mounted inside a rubber housing on the tyre inner liner that can continuously measure both pressures and temperatures.
Drivers also utilise Continental’s in-cab monitor to give continuous, accurate information on each tyre. The trucks regularly visit very small farmyards which typically contain nails, screws and other bits of sharp metal and every Sunday night owner Hanna checks the system for all tyre pressures on all livestock rigs in the yard.
He said: “It is certainly an improvement over my old routine of going round every tyre on a Saturday morning, down on my knees, unscrewing all the dust caps and using a hand held gauge to check pressures. Just last week we had an instance where a driver noticed a dropping pressure in one tyre, but, because he could monitor it in real-time, he was able to make a judgement call that it would be safe to complete the delivery and then deal with it.”
According to Hanna when a soft tyre blows because it hasn’t been spotted early, it will probably take out the mud guard and eventually the tyre next to it as well. He concluded: “A triple deck trailer of live pigs is difficult enough to manoeuvre, but a blow-out can cause it to sway violently and become a real handful, with the potential for causing danger to other road users and the livestock itself.”
This article was published in the 1 December issue of Commercial Motor. Why not subscribe to get 12 issues for just £12?
