Freeway Fleet Systems and Wheely-Safe have joined forces to integrate wheel security and tyre pressure monitoring into Freeway’s fleet maintenance platform.
The development will add intelligence to help prevent tyre degradation and wheel failures on coaches and buses.
Wheely-Safe’s offering includes what is believed to be the world’s first in-motion driver alert system for wheel loss, which uses sensors on wheel nuts to detect movement. In the event of a nut loosening, an alert is sent to a display unit in the cab, telling the driver to pull over.
The system also includes heat sensors to warn of high temperatures on brake discs and hubs, and a tyre pressure monitoring system which helps ensure tyres are maintained to optimum pressures.
Freeway can receive the data directly from the devices via the vehicles telematics or CAN bus, or wirelessly on return to the depot. Tyre pressure data is able to be transmitted to a driver’s mobile phone using the Freeway app during walk-round checks.
“Wheely-Safe adds crucial data to Freeway’s pool of vehicle maintenance data. It’s all the more important as Wheely-Safe picks up defects that are not that evident to the human eye and therefore are easily missed during driver first-use safety inspections,” says Freeway Managing Director Patrick Tandy. “Wheel loss is of course a particular worry but whether reducing this risk or identifying incorrect tyre pressures, Freeway is very much a system that helps operators improve safety while reducing unnecessary costs.”
Adds Steve Jackson, Managing Director of Wheely-Safe: “Our patented and multi award-winning technology offers a full suite of protection against major road safety issues that no single solution has ever tackled before.
“Many of the UK’s largest public transport operators are already protecting their vehicles with Wheely-Safe and working with Freeway as one of the driving forces in the digitisation of fleet maintenance represents a perfect partnership for both of us.”
