Jim Pearson Installed TPMS on Their Vehicles. How Much Time Did They Save?

Jim Pearson is one of Australia’s largest trucking companies operating hundreds of trucks & trailers nationwide. Their major customers include Coles and they have grown quickly during the past decade.

Previously, they had to manually check every tyre across their fleet before they leave the yard. Since by Australian law tyres must be in proper roadworthy condition before heading out, getting the tyre pressure right was of paramount importance.

In 2023, they decided to try out TPMS on their vehicles to see how much it could really save them. They shared with us the daily staff struggle and annoyance of having the check tyres manually. After testing the Mata T2, they felt he needed a system that can handle everything all in one.

The development of the Mata 7S was actually inspired by this situation. Jim Pearson needed something that can monitor both trucks and trailers and have a feature where the displays automatically recognize and pick up trailers once they’re in range. Eventually, we ended up creating the Mata 7S which can monitor up to 6 trailers and 110 tyres and has drop and hook technology to detect when the truck hooks up and drops off trailers.

Since its introduction, the time spent on tyre management has dropped to a quarter of what it was before. Previously they spent around 2 hours per month per truck checking tyres. Now it's fallen to one fourth of that.

Test Setup

To start Jim Pearson tested out 3 trucks with this new TPMS before expanding to 25. All the vehicles tested were B-Doubles or B-Triples.

Only external TPMS sensors were used (the ones that are screwed onto the tyres valve stem).

Each truck had 12 sensors installed while each trailer had 10 sensors installed - one sensor for each tyre. Installation was simple with the sensors being attached DIY on the tyres valve stem. Installing the display monitor required it to be connected to the truck's electrical system. The same was required for the trailer booster kits.

Results

The results for time savings were immediate. Now, drivers and the maintenance crew didn’t have to spend as much time checking the tyres. The only times when they inspected the tyres was when the system reported a fault or to inflate them once the pressure fell outside the designated threshold.

Jim Pearson detected multiple small faults thanks to the pressure and temperature data that allowed them to resolve the issue before they ballooned. For instance, when the system detected one tyre in a B-Double had lower tyre pressure, the technician was alerted and upon inspection he found 3 nails and a leak in the valve. This prevented a potentially catastrophic situation and saved downtime and headaches later down the road.

Who Checks The Tyres Now?

Previously, checking tyres was done by both drivers and maintenance crew. The drivers would use metal spanners to hit tyres to gauge pressure while thorough checks were done by crew.

Now, the checking is mostly done by the maintenance crew. When the TPMS reports pressures have fallen beneath the threshold, the tyres are inflated. When sudden pressure drops or overheating occurs, maintenance crew can check for major faults.

Tips From Jim Pearson

These are the insights Jim Pearson found after using our system for more than 5 years:

  • Hook and drop matters a lot. If you’re towing trailers, having to manually set them into your TPMS system is time consuming and has a large chance of mistakes being made. A system that automatically senses and adds the trailer sensors to the system when they get in range is critical to saving time.
  • Having technicians inflate the tyres to their correct range is generally better than having the drivers do it. It’s more consistent, easier to account for and results in better division of labour.
  • Give your drivers and maintenance crew some time to understand and get used to the TPMS. After that they will see how it helps them out.