Latest / Internet of Things with Fexingo: Connected Devices, Sensors, and Industrial IoT / How IoT Sensors Prevent Tire Blowouts on Trucks
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to talk about something that causes roughly 11,000 crashes a year in the United States, and it's something most drivers never think about until it happens: a tire blowout at highway speed. Luna: I've had a blowout once, and it was terrifying. For a passenger car. I can't imagine a fully loaded semi-truck losing a tire at seventy miles an hour. Lucas: Exactly. And the numbers are sobering. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that tire-related crashes kill over 200 people annually in the U.S. alone. The majority involve commercial trucks. But here's where IoT comes in: tire pressure monitoring systems, or TPMS, are quietly preventing a huge chunk of those incidents. Luna: So we're talking about sensors inside the tire that measure pressure and temperature? Lucas: Right. There are two main approaches. The first is direct TPMS, where a small battery-powered sensor is mounted inside the tire, usually on the valve stem or banded to the rim. It measures pressure, temperature, and sometimes even acceleration. That data is transmitted wirelessly to a receiver in the cab or streamed to the cloud via a telematics gateway. Luna: And the second approach? Lucas: Indirect TPMS, which doesn't use physical pressure sensors. Instead, it uses the anti-lock braking system's wheel speed sensors to detect differences in rotational speed. An under-inflated tire has a slightly smaller diameter and spins faster than a properly inflated one. The system detects that delta and alerts the driver. Luna: But indirect systems can't tell you which tire is low, or by how much, right? They just say 'a tire is low.' Lucas: Correct. And they can be thrown off by things like tire wear or road conditions. That's why the commercial trucking industry has largely moved toward direct TPMS. The sensor gives you a precise reading, down to the tenth of a PSI, and a temperature reading that can warn you about an impending blowout before pressure even drops. Luna: Temperature is a big deal. I read that heat buildup is the leading cause of tire failures on long hauls. Especially in summer. Lucas: Exactly. A tire's internal temperature can spike from a normal 120 degrees Fahrenheit to over 200 degrees in minutes if there's an internal breakdown. At that point, you're minutes away from a tread separation or a blowout. A direct sensor can alert the driver to pull over and check before catastrophic failure. Luna: What's the adoption like among fleets? Is this widespread or still early? Lucas: It's accelerating fast. A 2025 survey by the Technology & Maintenance Council found that about 45 percent of long-haul fleets now have direct TPMS on at least some of their tractors, up from maybe 20 percent five years ago. The big holdout is owner-operators, who often resist because of the upfront cost. Luna: How much are we talking per tire? Lucas: A direct TPMS sensor costs between forty and sixty dollars per tire. For a typical eighteen-wheeler, that's around nine hundred dollars for the tractor-trailer combination, plus maybe another two hundred for the telematics receiver and the subscription. So roughly eleven hundred dollars upfront. Luna: That's real money for a small operator. What's the ROI? Lucas: That's where the IoT story gets really interesting. A single tire blowout on a tractor-trailer can cost between eight thousand and fifteen thousand dollars when you factor in road service, cargo delay, potential accident liability, and downtime. For a fleet running a hundred trucks, even one blowout prevented per year covers the entire TPMS investment for that truck. Luna: And that's not counting the reduction in tire wear and fuel savings from maintaining proper pressure. Under-inflated tires increase rolling resistance, which burns more diesel. Lucas: Right. The Department of Energy says every ten percent drop in tire pressure increases fuel consumption by about one percent. For a fleet that spends half a million dollars a year on diesel, getting all tires to ideal pressure can save five thousand dollars annually in fuel alone. Luna: So for a fleet manager, it's not just safety — it's a direct line item on the P&L. Lucas: Exactly. And the data doesn't stop at the dashboard. The sensors feed into telematics platforms that give fleet managers a real-time view of every tire across the entire fleet. You can set alerts for specific thresholds, like 'if any tire drops below 90 PSI or exceeds 180 degrees, send a text to the driver and the dispatch office.' Luna: So it's predictive maintenance. You're catching problems before they become emergencies. Lucas: Precisely. And there's a regulatory push coming. NHTSA proposed a rule in late 2025 that would require TPMS on all new heavy trucks by model year 2028. That's going to accelerate adoption dramatically. Some fleets are already getting ahead of it. Luna: Are there any downsides or limitations to the current sensor technology? Lucas: Battery life is the biggest. Most sensors have a non-replaceable battery that lasts five to seven years. When it dies, you have to replace the entire sensor. And some fleets report false positives when sensors are exposed to extreme cold or heat. But the technology is improving. Some newer sensors use piezoelectric energy harvesting from the tire's vibration to extend battery life. Luna: That's clever. So the tire's own motion powers the sensor. Lucas: Yeah. Schrader, one of the big sensor manufacturers, has a prototype that they claim can last the life of the tire, about four to five years, without a battery change. That would eliminate one of the biggest maintenance headaches. Luna: I want to ask about integration with other truck systems. Is the TPMS data being combined with, say, braking or suspension data? Lucas: Increasingly, yes. Some high-end telematics platforms are integrating TPMS data with electronic braking systems and load sensors. If a tire is under-inflated, the system can automatically adjust the braking force to that axle to compensate. It's all part of the shift toward what's called the 'smart trailer' — a trailer with its own sensors, communication module, and cloud connection. Luna: I've heard that some European fleets are already using trailers that can report their own tire pressure, brake wear, and cargo temperature. Is that coming to the U.S.? Lucas: It is, but slower. The U.S. trailer fleet is older and more fragmented. But companies like Wabash and Utility Trailer are now offering smart trailers with integrated TPMS as an option. And the big leasing companies, like Ryder and Penske, are starting to spec them on new orders. Luna: Let's talk about the human factor. Does the data actually change driver behavior? Lucas: That's a great question. A 2024 study by the American Transportation Research Institute found that fleets using TPMS with real-time driver alerts saw a 35 percent reduction in tire-related roadside breakdowns. But they also found that drivers sometimes ignore alerts if they're too frequent or false. The key is to set smart thresholds and to have a culture where pulling over for a tire check is encouraged, not penalized. Luna: So it's not just the sensor, it's how you use the data. Lucas: Exactly. That's the IoT lesson that applies everywhere. The sensor is just the beginning. The value comes from the system — the alert, the response, the feedback loop. And that's something we talk about a lot on this show: the technology is only as good as the workflow it enables. Luna: You know, I'm glad we're having conversations like this without ads. It makes it easier to focus on what matters — the actual tech and its impact. Lucas: Yeah, that's intentional. We don't run ads on this network. If listeners find value in the deep dives we do, there's a simple way to support that choice: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to keep it ad-free. Luna: It's a small gesture that lets us keep the focus on the content. And we appreciate every bit of support. Lucas: So back to tires. I think the next frontier is actually not the sensor itself, but the analytics. Companies like Bendix and Continental are building predictive models that use historical TPMS data to forecast when a tire is likely to fail, down to the estimated miles remaining. That's the real game-changer. Luna: So instead of reacting to a low-pressure alert, you get a notification saying 'tire number three on trailer seven has an estimated 500 miles before critical failure. Plan replacement at the next stop.' Lucas: Exactly. That's the vision. And some fleets are already piloting that. One early adopter, a refrigerated carrier called Marten Transport, reported a 60 percent reduction in tire-related roadside events in the first year of using predictive analytics from a company called Treads. Luna: That's a huge operational win. And it shows how IoT can move from safety to efficiency. Lucas: Right. And that's the pattern we keep seeing across industries. The same sensor that prevents a blowout also saves fuel, extends tire life, reduces downtime, and lowers insurance premiums. It's a rare win win win. Luna: I'm curious about the cost for small fleets. Is there a simpler, cheaper option? Lucas: There are aftermarket systems like the TireMinder or the PressurePro that cost about thirty dollars per sensor and can be retrofitted on any trailer. They use a simple display that plugs into the 12-volt outlet. No telematics, no cloud. Just a warning light and a beep if a tire goes low. That's a good entry point for an owner-operator. Luna: So even the budget option is better than nothing. Lucas: Absolutely. And I think we'll see more micro-mandates. California has already proposed a rule that would require TPMS on all trucks operating in the state by 2030. If that passes, it will have a huge ripple effect. Luna: So the regulatory and technology trends are converging. That usually means faster adoption. Lucas: Yeah. And for the listeners who are in fleet management or logistics, I'd say: if you haven't looked at TPMS in the last two years, it's worth another look. The price has come down, the reliability is up, and the data integration is much better than it was. It's one of those rare technologies that pays for itself. Luna: And it could save a life. That's not something you can say about every tech investment. Lucas: Exactly. So that's TPMS in commercial trucking. Next episode, I want to talk about something completely different — IoT in agriculture, specifically how sensors are being used to monitor soil microbe activity to optimize fertilizer use. It's fascinating. Luna: I'm in. Until then, keep your tires properly inflated — and your sensors charged.