Aperia Technologies Inc. announced the initial rollout of its Halo Connect platform on March 18 at the TMC Annual Meeting in Atlanta. The supplier of automatic tire-inflation systems said the new proprietary connectivity platform “leverages machine learning to enable fleets to virtually eliminate unplanned tire-related downtime.”

The Halo Connect platform combines automatic inflation with machine learning “to make reactive tire maintenance a thing of the past.” To do so, it uses proprietary algorithms trained over more than half a decade and nearly a billion miles to categorize tire maintenance issues by severity, virtually eliminating unplanned tire-related downtime.”

The company said Halo Connect gives fleet managers simple and immediate insights into tire condition at both a fleet-wide and vehicle level, adding that these insights can reduce tire and operational costs by identifying and addressing issues well before they become problems. 

"Our goal with Halo Connect is to set a new standard for tire management, by enabling a shift to predictive need-based tire maintenance," said Josh Carter, CEO of Aperia Technologies. "Not all tire pressure alerts from a tire pressure monitoring system require immediate attention, so Halo Connect determines which tires are in immediate need of service and advises the service manager accordingly.

“A steady stream of alerts eventually desensitizes the maintenance manager,” he added, “so Halo Connect helps managers prioritize maintenance needs and schedule the less urgent repairs at a more convenient time."

Halo Connect actively measures and adjusts tire pressure in real-time while sharing relevant analytics to the fleet, the company stated. “By combining the power of active tire pressure management with smart tire analytics, Halo Connect keeps the small problems at bay while prompting further action on the more pressing problems,” which eases the burden on the maintenance department.   

"We envision a future where minimal service is conducted on the side of the road, especially for tires," said Karen Schwartz, B2B marketing director – on-road, Michelin North America, Inc. "Michelin is the nation’s leading ERS provider and by integrating tire health intelligence and predictive insights from Halo Connect we will be able to address issues in the most economical and convenient way for our customers, as opposed to reactively on the side of the road."

With the introduction of Halo Connect, fleets can “add a simple retrofittable sensor package to their Halo automatic tire inflation systems and gain access to Aperia’s analytics platform, which together with Halo, virtually eliminate unplanned tire-related downtime and take the guesswork out of tire maintenance,” the company stated.

"We are now in a connected era with more and more fleets embracing this new age of predictive maintenance, and tires are a place where a fleet can find real tangible traction on the quest for a safer, more efficient and more profitable fleet," said Aperia’s Carter. "It’s going to be quite a ride."

Halo Connect is available for use on vehicles equipped with the company’s Halo Tire Inflator, an automatic tire inflation system for trucks and trailers. Limited quantities of Halo Connect have begun shipping to select fleet clients, with full production quantities to be available in the fall.