Race to cut costs with Pit Stop Line

The solution answers one of the industry’s most elusive and critical questions – how to know, with 100% certainty, when a forklift tire is worn out and needs replacing. To have a measurable way to gauge this brings a wide range of benefits from cost savings to improved safety, boosted uptime and greater convenience and efficiency when servicing forklifts.

The Pit Stop Line is an orange line which is embedded into the tire. The indictor is visible on the tire wall and is designed to reveal itself across the surface of the tire when the rubber has reached sight of the end of its lifetime.

This reliable gauge means users can replace tires at the right time, not using them too long, which is unsafe, and not replacing them too early, which is inefficient. Many users replace tires when the tread has disappeared, unaware that the tire is typically only 50% worn at this point.

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Premature tire replacement costs the industry millions of pounds per year. Over a five year lease, around 10 tires are normally used. Using Pit Stop Line is estimated to allow users to reduce this to an average of 8 tires. Over a fleet of 15 trucks that’s almost an extra 30 tires, and an extra spend in the region of €7,500.

Indeed, Interfit (a branch of Trelleborg carrying out neutral multi-brand service and tire fitting) undertook a survey of tires returned to its disposal centres and found that on average tires were being replaced with 25% of their life remaining. Anyone who sells industrial tires has heard the comment that ‘your tires wear out quickly’. Trelleborg says that’s not the issue, as the user is often replacing the tire too early.

Trelleborg Wheel Systems Business Unit President, Jean-Paul Mindermann, explains: “Tires are often replaced with up to 25% of their life remaining simply because people are unaware that tread depth has nothing to do with the life of a solid tire. Not only does this misconception cause a great amount of wastage, but it also costs companies thousands of euros every year through unnecessary tire replacement and machine downtime.

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“Now with the help of Trelleborg’s latest breakthrough, users can be alerted when the tire has around 100 hours of life left, so they can plan the replacement and eliminate those unnecessary costs.”

As well as saving money for end users, the innovation has clear benefits for forklift manufacturers. For example, there is a strong tie-in with short term rental fleets. Many  companies taking forklifts on short term rental often feel they are entitled to a set of tires for the forklift every year.

Mindermann says: “The Pit Stop Line technology can help the manufacturer reinforce a positive message to customers, that it is best to replace the tire when it is needed, not on a fixed date. With Pit Stop Line, both end user and manufacturer can see clearly when that point has been reached and wastage can be reduced and money saved.”

Meeting safety standards

Tires are a critical factor in machine and operator safety, and while 25% of tires are replaced too early, 3% of tires are replaced too late, putting thousands of forklifts and operators at risk. The simple visual reference of Pit Stop Line makes tire safety easy.

The Pit Stop Line is visible before the wear line is reached. There are considerable safety risks if a forklift is driven past the wear line. This can lead to issues such as loss of load or rolling while cornering.

The new Pit Stop Line completely encompasses the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) Manual recommendations on tire safety and enables 100% accurate tire safety checks; a huge first for the industry.

Improved uptime and service planning

Delivering more than just better value for spend; its sophisticated design will help improve machine uptime and service planning. With the Pit Stop Line appearing 100 hours or five to 15 working days before the tire needs replacing, operators are able to plan their tire changes in advance, totally eradicating unplanned downtime.

It simplifies tire replacement. A fleet manager doesn’t need to wonder about when to replace, it is clear cut. Knowing a tire has 100 hours of life left allows replacement to be scheduled when most convenient. Customers can order new tires and plan the change well in advance.

As well as the Pit Stop Line, there is a relevant sticker cured in to the tire, to notify the fleet manager about the nature of the tire, so they know what to expect.

Strong environmental credentials

Pit Stop Line also offers environmental benefits, enabling a dramatic reduction in raw materials used as well as the carbon footprint associated with extraction, manufacturing, packaging and transportation. Replacing tires less often means a reduced environmental impact.

Trelleborg recently introduced the product to the market at the CeMAT exhibition in Germany.

Mindermann concludes: “The Pit Stop Line has the potential to have a transformational effect on forklift operations, helping to minimise downtime, tire waste and whole life costs – a true innovation. Tire waste is now a thing of the past.”