Arsenault Associates has introduced Dossier Tire Management System, a first for the fleet industry. The system takes a new approach in automating tire data collection and reporting to enable fleets to control their tire expense
and reduce equipment downtime due to tire related issues.
Arsenault Associates develops, distributes and supports Dossier maintenance management software. Dossier Tire Management, which works with Dossier, is the first commercial fleet tire management system to apply an affordable and practical automated technology solution for managing all tires - regardless of brand.
Most tire tracking systems require a huge amount of manual data collection and data entry. Some are limited to specific tire brands, many are designed for tire dealers rather than for fleet use, or they simply cost too much for most fleet budgets.
The Dossier Tire Management System automates tire data collection and reporting using new wireless tire technology tools and tire identification technology solutions that identify and report tires with severe operational issues without the need for data entry. The system answers the most important tire management questions including:

• How many tires do I have?
• Where are my tires?
• Which tires have chronic under-inflation problems?
• What type of tires do I have and what is their condition?
• What are my tire operating statistics (miles or hours run, 32nds use, miles or hours per 32nd tread, number of recaps)?
• Which tires have reached the minimum tread depth for recapping?
• Which tires operate most efficiently for each category of vehicles or equipment in my fleet?
• Which tires need to be reordered?
• Which tires are still at the vendors, why, and what casing credits do I have?
• What are my total tire costs and the cost per mile or hour by vehicle, by category of equipment and by fleet?

"Tire management poses a real challenge for fleet maintenance professionals," said Charles Arsenault, CEO of Arsenault Associates. "The problem has been that the cost and manpower necessary to collect the enormous amount of tire data necessary to manage tires has equaled or surpassed the savings derived from the effort. That marginalizes the value of a manual tire management program."
Dossier Tire Management solves these problems by enabling automated data collection in various degrees of detail according to each fleet's individual needs, but always within the framework of a real bottom-line result.
The fully automated solution includes a new handheld tread depth and air pressure device called Dossier Tire Probe. That device communicates wirelessly with a PDA, which runs Pocket Dossier, the mobile version of the Dossier fleet maintenance system. Each tire is identified by affixing an inexpensive bar-coded rubber tag that can incorporate an RFID chip. Variations of the Dossier tire ID technology are available to meet a fleet's needs.
To check tires in the fleet yard, shop or anywhere, the tire mechanic scans the vehicle's bar code with the Pocket Dossier PDA to display data about the truck and its tires. After scanning a particular tire, he uses Dossier Tire Probe to electronically measure the air pressure and tread depth, which is wirelessly transmitted to Pocket Dossier worn on the mechanic's belt. Pocket Dossier wirelessly transmits all of the tire data wirelessly in real time to the computer housed in the shop and running the full Dossier software system.
The tire mechanic does not key in any information, still the system identifies each tire, knows its current location on the truck and its proper air pressure and tread depth levels. It automatically alerts the mechanic with an audible sound and warning screen if a tire is at or below its low air pressure or minimum tread depth level. If any other issue is found with a tire, the mechanic can open and generate a repair order or work pending issue on the spot, in real time, and it will appear on the computer screen back in the shop.
Beta testing is under way with select fleets around the nation. Testing is expected to be completed by year's end at which time the results will be made public. According to Arsenault, the Dossier Tire Management solution will be commercially available in early 2008.
For more information, visit www.arsenault.biz.