(Editor's note: While this information was first printed in a 2016 Fleet Maintenance print issue, the information continues to be applicable to fleet maintenance managers today.)
An RFID tag itself contains very little data – a unique identification number and perhaps a couple other items, such as make, model and size of tire, Bridgestone Commercial Group’s director of strategic business development, Jason Roanhouse says. The majority of the data is collected remotely and assigned to the identification number.
RFID tags can be installed at manufacture or through post cure processes, he says.
Tags can be installed either on the interior or the exterior of the tire using adhesives or heat, adds Maxine Osborne, director, Michelin Services Operations, Michelin Americas Truck Tires. Standard handheld devices or stationary antennae may be used to write small amounts of data to the tag for identification purposes with encryption. Once the data is written to the tag, the tag is locked and cannot be modified.
RFID tags also can be installed in the aftermarket, says the president of TireStamp, Peggy J. Fisher, and notes that the TMC has a recommended practice (RP) on this: RP 247, Tire Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Device Guidelines (Passive Tags) for Medium and Heavy Duty Truck Tires. This RP provides guidelines on exactly how fleets should install RFID tags in truck tires.
“RFIDs are enclosed in rubber repair patches and bonded to the innerliner or outside of the tire between the bead and the lower sidewall near the DOT code,” she says. “Repair materials companies now offer RFID units that can be installed in minutes to the tire sidewall without buffing the surface.”
There is a small amount of space available on an RFID tag designated User Memory Data Storage, explains Fisher.
“This field is designed to contain a small amount of additional information required to manage the tire as an asset. It could contain common records, such as the DOT code or the fleet’s branded serial number. All other information should be contained in a database to which the tire identification number is linked.”
