News

One in four LCVs found to have dangerous tyre pressure level

One in four light commercial vehicles could be operating with at least one tyre inflated to dangerous levels, according to Wheely-Safe.

The company carried out a sample check of 100 vehicles recently across multiple fleets: 17% of the tyres were under- or over-inflated by at least 25%, prompting a red flag, with a further 21% flagged amber.

Andy Congrave, sales director at Wheely-Safe, says: “Twenty of the vans we checked were brand new, yet more than half of the tyres were under-inflated, a quarter of them seriously so. This is particularly concerning given they’d just arrived on a customer’s fleet, fresh from the supplying dealer’s pre-delivery inspection process.”

The inspections were carried out by Wheely-Safe as part of trials for Michelin Light Fleet, a new low-cost retrofit tyre pressure monitoring system.

Wheely-Safe calculated the average potential saving per vehicle to be £150 per year, taking into account improved fuel consumption and longer tyre life from correctly inflated tyres.

The Michelin TPMS Light Fleet system provides visual warnings when a tyre reaches 15% under-inflation and an audible alert at 25% loss of pressure. Using a handy tyre pressure checker, the system also enables drivers, technicians and fleet managers to check all pressures across a vehicle in a few seconds.

The standard kit includes a solar powered windscreen-mounted receiver, four TPMS sensors, a pressure checker plus a spanner and four locking wheel nuts, and costs £89.95. Additional sensors are available.

Related content