It’s a simple calculation: 120 trailers, each with six tires, equals 720 tires whose pressures need to be checked every day. "We used to have semitrailer tractors with factory-fitted tire pressure monitoring systems," reports Peter Eggers, Managing Director of haulage company Eggers Spedition GmbH based in Hildesheim, Germany. However, with these, it is easy for the driver to switch off error messages.
"We had vehicles coming in with trailers on which the front left tire had been running on five bar of pressure and the right rear on seven-bar, which was certainly an interesting experience!" explains Eggers. "I wanted to change all that. Given the tire pressure situation as it was, plus the high fuel consumption we were seeing and the relatively low mileage of the tires, I set out to find a system that was easy to operate and check, and which helped me to keep my fleet of vehicles on the move."
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High-cost savings with ContiConnect:
In early 2019, Eggers invested roughly 60,000 euros in equipping their trailers with ContiConnect. As a result, the number of on-the-road punctures they record each year has been reduced by two-thirds, and their customer service has greatly improved. Tyre life has been prolonged by 20%, and proper tyre pressure has reduced fuel consumption by an average of 0.5 litres per 100 kilometres.
"I save roughly 500 litres of fuel per vehicle over the course of the year," says Eggers. "When I add it all together, the savings on our 120 trailers amount to some 84,000 euros annually." His verdict after a good two years of using ContiConnect? "We are very happy with the system. The promised levels of performance have been achieved and we have been able to reduce our fleet costs substantially."
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A win-win situation for the company:
Eggers Spedition GmbH is a family-owned business with 120 employees that was formed over 60 years ago. Silo trucks and tankers are used by the company to transport commodities safely and quickly to their destination. "As a registered food business, we transport food and animal feed across Germany and Europe as a whole," says Eggers. "The largest volume is sugar for the drinks, chocolate and long-life baked goods industry." These customers are absolutely dependent on a continuous supply of raw materials; they cannot accept delays. "The ability to reduce tire damage rates was, therefore, a fundamental consideration in my decision to invest in ContiConnect." Now in the third year of using the tire monitoring system, the impact it has had is clear. The company already recouped its investment in the second year of using the system. "On-the-road punctures and therefore repairs by third parties have reduced significantly,” adds Eggers. "This has allowed us to further improve our delivery reliability, plus we have also saved fuel and can keep the tires on the vehicles for longer. So for me, this investment has been a win-win."
The network enables continuous pressure monitoring:
Eggers can monitor the tyre pressures of their vehicles with ContiConnect. It means the fleet manager can react immediately if a tyre deviates from its intended values, as is often the case with puncture damage, gradual pressure loss, or stuck tyres. Eggers' vehicles are frequently on the road for several weeks before returning to the Hildesheim yard and being examined at the ContiConnect reading station.
"That’s why the network idea was an important factor in my decision to purchase," says Eggers. His plan is to install a Germany-wide network of ContiConnect reader stations to increase the frequency of checks and the level of monitoring. There are currently 13 reader stations in Germany, each installed at Vergolst locations. "The network enables us to also monitor the tire pressures on our vehicles while they’re on the move," reports fleet manager Markus Struss. “If pressure loss is registered at a reader station, we automatically receive an SMS and an email to alert us." Struss can then contact the driver and arrange a workshop visit. In this way, all 720 trailer tires for the Eggers fleet are kept well monitored and can help bring the cargo onboard the vehicles to their destination safely and on schedule.
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