NS to install new tire pressure monitoring system

Norfolk Southern Railway has selected the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.'s tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) for the railroad's trailer fleet across North America.

Known as TPMS Plus, the system is part of Goodyear's tire management program, which is designed to help fleets save time and money by alerting them to address tire situations, Goodyear officials said in a press release.

The solution's on-vehicle sensors monitor tire conditions in real time, allowing fleets to identify and address issues such as air leaks, low pressure and abnormal temperature. Once a potential issue is detected, Goodyear fleet headquarters can help route the driver to a Goodyear service network location or dispatch roadside assistance to perform preventative maintenance, they said.

After a TPMS Plus pilot project with NS' intermodal operations, Goodyear began deploying the solution on chassis at the NS facility in Fairburn, Georgia, earlier this year.

Installations will expand to additional NS facilities in Illinois, Indiana and Florida over the next several months.

The program already has produced results for NS, said Andrew Knouse, group manager of road equipment maintenance and planning at the Class I.

"In a sample of 20 chassis during the initial weeks of installs, we collected over 10 occurrences that prevented further failures," Knouse said.

The TPMS Plus deployment at NS is the largest fleet installation to date for Goodyear, said Johnny McIntosh, director of Goodyear's integrated solutions and tire management.