The TRT Traction Air® Central Tyre Inflation (CTI) system manages tyre pressure with semi-automated intelligent control from the comfort of the cab. Gavin Halley, TRT’s General Manager of Sales, Parts and Service, has been with the organisation for 28 years. For 20 of those years, he has been closely associated with the development of TRT’s Traction Air® system.
Gavin has come through the parts side of TRT’s business, developing the after-sales element complementing TRT’s original equipment (OE) manufacturing.
“My current role is General Manager of Sales, Parts, and Service. This includes overseeing all service functions, crane service, mechanical service, and our parts branches in Hamilton, Auckland, and Christchurch, and I have a dotted line through to Australia,” said Gavin.
“TRT Traction Air® is a product I took under my wing 20 years ago. It was initially developed by Daryl, one of our sales representatives at the time, along with Bruce Carden. Bruce introduced the technology to Australia, and while it performed well initially, our focus later shifted to supporting our growth in heavy trailers. When we were exploring ways to grow the business, I revisited the product and asked what we could do to drive its growth. Since then, it has undergone 20 years of development and innovation,” he said.
TRT’s early Traction Air® systems were initially for trucks and trailers and featured a Proportional Quick Exhaust (PQE) valve.
“Back then, the compressors weren’t that efficient, and the electronic valve was situated down the chassis, they were quite big and cumbersome units and prone to damage from oil contamination, and an expensive repair.
“As vehicles incorporated more technology, the available space on the chassis for mounting our pressure cells and hardware decreased, pushing us to innovate. Our focus became reducing our system’s footprint and making it more robust to minimise potential faults. Since then, we’ve implemented numerous upgrades, and with each step forward, we ask, ‘That’s great– how can we improve it further?,” said Gavin.
“Improving our communication systems from analog, as they were in the early days, to now where our valves are mounted with the electronics protected in the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in the cab was an important development.
“There are two key distinctions between the systems we have in the TIDD pick and carry crane and the system in the trucks and other vehicles. The pressure of the air in the tyres is managed through pressure maintenance and the systems on trucks and other vehicles are full CTI. Pressure maintenance guarantees and maintains tyre pressure, and with the TIDDs it guarantees 130 PSI 100 per cent of the time while the crane is in operation,” said Gavin.
The reason for the constant 130 PSI is because tyres heat up driving on the road which increases tyre pressure. When they cool down the pressure decreases, explains Gavin.
“With a pick and carry crane, the tyres are effectively your outriggers and to have the air pressure guaranteed to 130 PSI, enhances the safety of the crane while in operation. It’s a more critical issue than what most people realise and until we started integrating the technology in our TIDDs, it was an issue that had been relatively ignored,” he said.
“There are additional benefits to maintaining constant air pressure: tyres are easier to maintain, more productive, and have a longer lifespan. It saves time and money during pre-work machinery checks and offers peace of mind for both the operator and the asset owner. If a tyre is compromised in any way, whether during operation, a lift, or travel, an alarm is triggered immediately, reducing the risk of tyre-related incidents.”
The TRT Traction Air system originated in the logging sector. The first system introduced into New Zealand was originally developed in Canada.
“It was hugely expensive, and people were dropping an immense amount of money on the system. And so, as we do at TRT, we examined the system and could see it was using the truck’s compressor for air supply and its functionality was based on working valves and electronics. Sounds simple, but there’s a lot of elements to it, but that’s how we got into that sector,” said Gavin.
“Initially, it was driven by forest owners. They knew that if they had vehicles operating in their forests on off-highway surfaces, and the tyres were at the right pressure, they would spend less on maintaining the forest roads. If contractors wanted to haul timber, then a prerequisite was that their vehicles had to have Central Tyre Inflation (CTI). All these years later, companies today are adopting the system for the benefits of CTI as opposed to a contract prerequisite,” he said.
Outcomes of studies strongly support CTI, but TRT emphasises that results can vary because every driver, route, and surface is unique.
“We conducted testing on set runs back in the early days, and we were getting huge efficiency and major benefits from the tyres connected to CTI. Let’s say you are at 55 PSI running off highway, unloaded, and you hit a big rock, you don’t get the impact damage on the casing that you would have at 90 PSI if you didn’t have CTI.
“Tyre pressure is set correctly for the surface you are travelling on, meaning less vibration through the chassis and less wear on the bushings and suspension. When you’re in difficult situations with full CTI, and you’ve dropped your pressure right down, let’s say into max traction, 32 PSI or thereabouts, you get less wheel spin, your footprint is more than doubled, as opposed to what it would be at 90 PSI. You’ve just got so much more rubber on the surface which provides that grip and allows you to travel through difficult terrain.
“With full CTI, we were the first to add independent GPS to our ECU in the cab. We have speed thresholds set to the tyre pressure and as the driver is driving along at 32 PSI and he’s under the 20kmph threshold, and then decides to go faster, the system will give him a warning. If he doesn’t increase his pressure, the system will automatically take it to the next safest pressure for the speed he’s traveling at,” said Gavin.
TIDDs are 100 per cent full-time maintaining 130 PSI, and they’re not full CTI for a reason.
“TIDDs are not crawling in and out of logging skid pads like a log truck is. With the TIDDs we are guaranteeing 130 PSI in the tyres, the whole time. Essentially it is the same system, it’s the same pressure cell and ECU with all of the same smarts, but it’s an entirely different software package which allows us to operate that way,” Gavin said.
“When a crane without TRT’s Traction Air system is in operation, tyre pressure fluctuates constantly, increasing and decreasing as conditions change. Typically, a TIDD crane’s tyre pressure is set at 130 PSI at the depot before operation. However, without Traction Air, once you hit the highway and travel 100 kilometres to the next job, tyre pressure can increase significantly, affecting performance. TRT’s Traction Air actively maintains the pressure at 130 PSI by precisely releasing small amounts of air and replenishing it as needed. This intelligent pressure management is the most practical and effective solution for pick-and-carry cranes, as it ensures optimal functionality, stability, and most importantly the overall safety of outriggers, which are essentially your tyres.”
To read more about TRT Traction Air or to request a quote visit: www.trtaustralia.com.au/traction-air-cti-system