There are many good reasons to opt for a tyre pressure control system, but now one is a legal one.
The European Commission is making tyre pressure monitoring compulsory from mid-2022. Tyre pressure monitoring systems have long been legally required in many vehicle categories: they first made their way into legislation in the US in 2008, followed shortly thereafter by Japan, South Korea, and, in 2012, the EU. An amendment to the UN ECE R 141 Regulation is planned for 2022 that will also require a tyre pressure monitoring system for trailers for the first time. The legislation will be implemented in two parts: from July 2022, it shall apply to all new vehicle type approvals; from July 2024, tyre pressure monitoring will be required for all newly registered trailers. The UN ECE is a regulatory framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe; it also applies far beyond the borders of the EU. Parties to the agreement include countries such as the UK, Russia, Turkey, all Eastern European nations, South Africa, Australia and many more.
UN ECE R 141 precisely stipulates the tyre pressure monitoring system’s range of functions. When a loss of pressure greater than 20 per cent or a system malfunction occurs, the driver must receive a warning within ten minutes. In tyre pressure refill systems, a change in pressure of five per cent must be automatically offset again within ten minutes. A warning must be displayed in the driver cab; the systems’ sensor data can be transmitted by cable or wirelessly. Detecting a loss of pressure on the move is good – but regulating it automatically is even better.
Using a tyre pressure control system in the trailer isn’t just a matter of meeting requirements – it’s about good business sense: ‘skyrocketing fuel prices have seen a marked increase in demand for BPW’s AirSave system. For a three-axle vehicle with a mileage of 120,000 kilometres per year and an average pressure deviation of ten per cent, AirSave delivers a cost benefit of 700 euros per year – solely as a result of the fuel savings (around 250 litres) and the longer service life of the tyres. At 200,000 kilometres of mileage, the cost savings increase to almost 1,000 euros. And they do so year after year. Source