Nitrogen Tire Inflation

Ten Myths of Nitrogen Tire Inflation

I wrote the following article for publication in the April 2009 edition of Fixed Ops Magazine.  Fixed Ops Magazine is the leading publication for franchised new car dealerships in North America.  It targets service, parts and body shop operations, and provides news, tips, trends and advice to these departments. 

This article covers some commonly encountered myths of filling tires with nitrogen, and reveals the true story.  Check it out, as I believe it does a very good job of addressing some of the fallacies of nitrogen for tires. 

Download Mythbusting Feb09 FINAL

The digital version of Fixed Ops magazine can be found here, and my article begins on page 26: 

Fixed Ops Magazine - April 2009

Volvo Fills All Spare Tires with Nitrogen

Volvo is an auto manufacturer renowned worldwide for their commitment to safety.  Volvo uses nitrogen to inflate the spare tire on all of their passenger vehicles.  And they have been doing it for years.  Filling the spare tire with nitrogen minimizes pressure loss and assures it is closer to set pressure than its air filled counterpart.  Drivers rarely maintain the tire pressure in their spare tire, so filling it with nitrogen helps to guarantee usability when required. 

If it is safer to fill the spare tire with nitrogen, why not fill the four regular tires as well?  Nissan is already doing it with their GTR, and it is only a matter of time before all new vehicles have it.

Volvo is an auto manufacturer renowned worldwide for their commitment to safety.  Volvo uses nitrogen to inflate the spare tire on all of their passenger vehicles.  And they have been doing it for years.  Filling the spare tire with nitrogen minimizes pressure loss and assures it is closer to set pressure than its air filled counterpart.  Drivers rarely maintain the tire pressure in their spare tire, so filling it with nitrogen helps to guarantee usability when required. 

If it is safer to fill the spare tire with nitrogen, why not fill the four regular tires as well?  Nissan is already doing it with their GTR, and it is only a matter of time before all new vehicles have it.

Roadside Assistance and Tire Protection Plans for Nitrogen Tire Inflation

Parker Hannifin, the world leader in nitrogen tire inflation equipment, is pleased to announce they now offer tire hazard and roadside assistance packages.  Cap kits and tire protection plans present a wide variety of options for the dealership, allowing them to expand their nitrogen inflation offering from primarily a service lane option to one that is successful in PDI or F&I as well.  Dealerships can use these packages to present a good-better-best approach to the nitrogen driver, ultimately increasing the incremental revenue and profitability and improving customer retention. 

There are currently three primary offerings: Tire Hazard 150, Sign and Drive Roadside Assistance and a combination of both.  These plans provide the nitrogen driver complete protection on an annual basis.  Other plans, that offer higher value or longer term protection will also be available.  A summary of each of these plans is provided below:

 

Tire Program Fliers Haz150-1

 

Each of these protection plans is supplied with access to an internet based customer marketing and retention tool.  This provides customized monthly or quarterly newsletters to tire protection plan clients,  including personalized coupons and timely communication (i.e. winter driving tips) with the logo of the dealership.  Customers respond well to the newslwetter & coupon format, drawing them back to the dealership for other services.  It can also be used to solicit plan renewal automatically for the dealership when the protection plans expire.  A copy of the customized newsletter, and the marketing & retention tool, is shown below:

 

Parker Sample Newsletter

 

Dealer Dashboard Sample

If your dealership is currently offering nitrogen tire inflation, or have plans to in the future, Parker Hannifin is available to discuss these new tire protection plans and how they can improve both your revenue and profitability.  If your dealership is already offering tire protection plans as a supplement to your nitrogen inflation business, Parker Hannifin may be able to improve the quality and cost of your offering.  The protection plans, coupled with our new accessories offering, make Parker Hannifin the premier provider nitrogen inflation equipment, product and services.

Nitrogen Tire Inflation Testimonial: South Africa

Here is a testimonial for nitrogen filled tires from Fast 'n Fresh Transport.  They are a South African refrigerated transportation company.  In particular, they noted significantly better tire pressure retention, improvements in fuel efficiency and better retreadability.

View this photo

Palm Beach Nitrogen Bus Study.....No Advantage for Nitrogen Tires?

Results from Palm Beach Transportation's long awaited study of nitrogen tire inflation are in, and they are a bit concerning.  The minor improvement in fuel efficiency for nitrogen vs. air filled tires was well within the margin of error, so nitrogen is of no benefit.  Well, thats not the whole story.  As you can see in the report, Palm Tran filled both the nitrogen and air tires weekly.  This is flawed, because its not the nitrogen that provides the fuel efficiency benefit, its proper inflation pressure.  The further your tires get from proper inflation pressure, the more your gas mileage suffers.  Changing from a monthly tire service schedule to a weekly schedule minimizes the fuel efficiency benefits.  In most fleets I have visited, the normal tire maintenance schedule is 1-3 months.  As I have said before, if you are diligent and provide regular attention to your tires, the benefits of nitrogen would be reduced.  For those of us who aren't, nitrogen filled tires are an improvement. 

You can view a copy of the report here:

Download Palm Beach Results Mar09

Mining Mirror: Nitrogen...Results in Significant Improvements in Tire Life

Here is an article about off the road tires for mining.  It appeared in the January 2009 issue of Mining Mirror.  Since there is a shortage of OTR tires for mining, maximizing tire life if of the utmost importance.  Nitrogen is a proven technology for extending OTR tire life, and that is why it is mandated on most equipment.  It is so important, manufacturers often deliver vehicles with nitrogen already in the tires. 

Some quotes from the article that may be of interest:

• Pumping nitrogen instead of air in the tires results in significant improvements in tire life.
• With nitrogen, we have stable pressure and cooler rubber with no leaks.
• Nitrogen definitely reduces tire costs

The article is located below for your review.

Download Mining Mirror Jan09 Nitrogen

Video: Nitrogen Testimonials from Commercial Trucking & Tires

Here is another video produced by Parker Hannifin.  This one has some very good testimonials from current nitrogen users.  Pay particular attention to the minimal treadwear observed by one of the users. 

Video: Fleet Nitrogen Testimonials

Video: Benefits of Nitrogen Tire Inflation

Here is a video produced by Parker Hannifin that covers some of the basics of Nitrogen Tire Inflation.  The benefits to the driver are included at the end of the video, and are fairly easy to understand. 

Video: Benefits Nitrogen Tire Inflation

The video is almost 5 years old, but does a pretty good job of explaining the benefits and the science behind them.  Our equipment has come a long way in the past 5 years, it now looks like the Tire$aver shown in the picture on the left. 

Tyre Asia Article About the Benefits of Nitrogen Inflation

Here is a recent article that appeared in Tyre Asia.  It does a thorough job covering the benefits of filling your tires with nitrogen. 

Tyre Asia - N Factor