NHVR releases de Pont’s discussion paper into PBS tyre management practices
Improved data and a national classification system are two of the options being explored in an independent discussion paper, unveiled by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) into the performance of tyres used on the Performance Based Standards (PBS) fleet.
NHVR chief engineer Les Bruzsa released the Review of Tyre Management Practices in the Australian PBS System by road safety expert John de Pont for industry feedback.
Read more about John de Pont’s appointment to lead the review, here
The review looks at the effects of tyre characteristics on safety performance, key tyre performance parameters, the performance of truck tyres currently available in Australia and the effects of tyre designs, tread patterns, case types, sizes, materials and operating conditions.
“With almost one-in-five new heavy vehicles approved under the PBS scheme, we want to take a best-practice approach to the management of tyres on the PBS fleet,” Bruzsa says.
“Currently two assessors assessing the same vehicle with the same tyres using the same software can get different results for some PBS standards if they obtain their tyre data from different sources.
“This is another step towards a consistent approach between manufacturers and giving heavy vehicle operators and manufacturers certainty in how we measure tyre performance.”
de Pont’s discussion paper explores four possible options, including:
• Establish a centralised database of tyre data
• Specify one set of generic tyres for all assessments
• Non-hierarchical classification system
• Hierarchical classification system
“This discussion paper provides a broad overview of the state of knowledge of how tyres behave and what the key tyre characteristics are in relation to the performance measures in the PBS scheme,” de Pont says in the report.
“The tyre properties discussed include inflation pressure, vertical stiffness, lateral force, aligning moment and relaxation length.”
The report is available here, while feedback can be made here until March 28, 2019.