Continental showcases new intelligent steer tire and tire monitoring solution

Continental, automotive supplier and tire manufacturer, displayed its latest and most innovative technology for commercial fleets at the North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) Show. Highlights included the company’s new intelligent-capable regional steer tire as well as its new GHG 2-compliant monitoring solution.

Continental offers a wide portfolio of intelligent-capable steer tires, which can be ordered pre-equipped with TPMS sensors from the factory. Steer tires are especially important on a commercial vehicle, since they are some of the only tires running in a single rather than a dual configuration. The steer axle is free-rolling and pivots to control vehicle direction, meaning that steer tires need to be specially designed to prevent irregular wear. Maintaining proper tire inflation on a steer tire is critical, allowing fleets to extend the tread life, maintain casing integrity for future retreading to the drive and trailer positions, improve safety and handling, and help prevent steer tire blowouts.

Conti HSR 3, Continental’s newest steer tire, is a regional steer tire delivering excellent mileage with scrub resistance. It will replace the HSR2 in regional steer usage, delivering higher mileage than the predecessor. The Conti HSR 3 is built on the Conti 3G casing for improved durability and retreadability, essential elements for delivering the lowest overall driving cost to regional fleets.

The key differentiator between the HSR2 predecessor and the new Conti HSR 3 is the enhanced belt package of the new product. With significant engineering improvements, it withstands highly concentrated pressure and increases penetration resistance. Built for increased stiffness, it reduces heat build-up for improved wear and longer mileage. This also extends the casing life for enhanced retreadability.

The Conti HSR 3 is undergoing field testing, including a refrigerated food service fleet in Pennsylvania whose vehicles travel roughly 600 miles per day, stopping at multiple store locations. High scrub resistance and highway mileage were of utmost importance to this fleet, leading them to test the new product. While the test is still ongoing, results are positive. Competitor products were expected to deliver 160,000-180,000 miles, according to the fleet. The Conti HSR 3 is currently projected to deliver more than 220,000 miles under the same conditions.

In addition to the new Conti HSR 3, Continental offers a full portfolio of intelligent-capable steer tires, customized to the needs of fleets in different applications.

Conti EcoPlus HS3 is Continental’s most fuel-efficient steer tire, delivering maximum fuel economy and on-road mileage for long haul applications. It took first place in fuel efficiency tests conducted by the PIT Group of FPInnovations as part of their annual Energotest campaign, whose results were released in January.

In the line haul application test, the following 11R22.5 tires from Continental were tested: Conti EcoPlus HS3 steer, HDL2 drive, and Conti EcoPlus HT3 trailer tires. The Continental tires delivered a fuel economy of 7.35 mpg. Based on national average miles per gallon, miles traveled, and fuel cost from the North American Council on Freight Efficiency, fleets could save over $13,500 per truck by switching to Continental tires.

Conti HSL 3 is Continental’s steer tire for long haul and super-regional applications, delivering excellent on-road mileage combined with fuel efficiency. It took first place in the regional fuel efficiency tests from PIT Group.

In the regional application test, the following 11R22.5 tires from Continental were tested: Conti HSL 3 steer (2019 rename of Conti Hybrid HS3), HDR2 EcoPlus drive, and Conti Hybrid HT3 trailer tires. The Continental tires delivered a fuel economy of 7.26 mpg. Based on national average miles per gallon, miles traveled, and fuel cost from the North American Council on Freight Efficiency, fleets could save over $12,800 per truck by switching to Continental tires.

Conti HSC 3, a heavy truck, steer/all-position, construction tire, was launched in October 2019. As an on/off-road tire, its performance is focused on durability, with excellent on-road mileage.

The Conti HSC 3 delivers significant benefits over its predecessor, HSC1, including an estimated 11 percent mileage improvement. Built on Continental’s 3G casing for reduced heat build-up and improved retreadability, the tire also features a wider tread platform to increase mileage. The off-road belt package delivers improved penetration resistance. New cap/base tread compounds deliver a 100 percent improvement in cuts to the belt during cut-and-chip testing, as well as reducing heat build-up.

The Conti HSC 3 answers demands from the market, including excellent on-road mileage, stone ejectors in the tread pattern for self-cleaning to prevent stone drilling, and strong, thick sidewall reinforcement. As an intelligent tire, it is ready for Continental’s digital tire monitoring solutions to identify punctures and creeping air loss, helping avoid breakdowns in a time-critical industry.

The entire Generation 3 construction tire line – Conti HSC 3 steer, Conti HDC 3 drive, and Conti HAC 3 all-position – as well as the Conti Coach HA3 motor coach tire, are manufactured exclusively as intelligent tires with embedded TPMS sensors, due to the inherent benefits of tire monitoring in their respective industries. All other Continental tires can be specified as intelligent tires on customer request.

Continental offers a full portfolio of digital tire monitoring systems to meet different fleet needs. Components of all systems can be combined to take advantage of different functionalities.

Tire monitoring solutions include the ContiPressureCheck on-vehicle TPMS and ContiConnect Yard digital tire monitoring system with web portal – which was named a Top 100 Product by Construction Equipment magazine this year.

ContiPressureCheck Solo, a trailer TPMS system, is the company’s newest tire monitoring solution. The simple and low-maintenance solution for trailer tire monitoring notifies the driver of tire pressure issues in real-time while keeping the trailer system completely separate from the tractor. ContiPressureCheck Solo offers fleets a solution to reduce trailer tire costs and stay compliant with pending greenhouse gas regulations from the EPA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and California Air Resources Board.

“This new solution keeps fleets and trailer manufacturers ahead of pending legislation, and demonstrates our commitment as a partner to the commercial vehicle industry,” said Paul Williams, Continental’s executive vice president of commercial vehicle tires in the Americas. “With this addition to our digital tire monitoring portfolio, we now offer solutions for long haul fleets and owner-operators, for fleets who return to the yard daily, and for trailers.”

ContiPressureCheck Solo is made of three major components. Continental tire sensors form the basis of all of the company’s commercial tire monitoring solutions. Mounted on the inner liner of each tire, they are protected from weather, theft, curbing, and damage during tire mounting. Sensors can be retrofit into existing tires, or intelligent tires with pre-installed sensors can be ordered directly from the Continental factory.

The Central Control Unit, mounted on the trailer, continuously receives data from the tire sensors and activates alerts if needed.

The notification light, mounted in an industry-standard position and visible in the driver’s side mirror, is activated if low pressure is identified in any of the trailer’s tires. Multiple levels of low pressure alerts ensure notifications reflect the severity of the issue.

Trailers equipped with telematics systems can also transmit tire data into the telematics dashboard, allowing back office support personnel to view trailer TPMS information remotely. Integration with Truck-Lite Co.’s Road Ready trailer telematics system is already available.

ContiPressureCheck Solo has an intuitive design that is simple to use and maintain. Battery-powered sensors last up to six years or 400,000 miles, keeping maintenance to a minimum. Continental’s solution is not connected to trailer air hoses, so it does not introduce additional leak points into the air system or require intensive upkeep to prevent air leaks. As a stand-alone trailer TPMS, it is ideal for drop-and-hook scenarios since there is no connection needed to a specific tractor. This low-maintenance approach can save fleets time and money.

ContiPressureCheck Solo is designed to meet greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency standards from multiple regulatory bodies, which are currently pending implementation: GHG Phase 2 for Trailers set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), and CA Phase 2 GHG Trailer Rules set forth by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) which go into effect in 2020. Both sets of regulations currently contain provisions for certain trailers to install either a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) or an automatic tire inflation system (ATIS). Continental’s new trailer TPMS makes GHG 2 compliance as simple and affordable as possible for fleets.

Regulations also state that trailers will be required to use low-rolling-resistance tires. Continental offers SmartWay verified and CARB compliant tires, including the Conti EcoPlus HT3, which has one of the lowest rolling resistance coefficients on the market.

“If the legislation stays as currently written, fleets will be able to meet all GHG 2 regulations with just two simple items from Continental: the ContiPressureCheck Solo trailer TPMS and our extremely low rolling resistance tires,” explains Carolina Wagner, Continental’s head of marketing for commercial vehicle tires in the Americas. “That’s it, just two products and your trailer can be GHG 2 compliant. You won’t need an aerodynamic kit or any additional products.”