Managing the energy usage of freight transport in Singapore

• Main Author: Xu, Huan Bai.
• Other Authors: Wong Yiik Diew
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53929
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Under-inflation of tyres generally leads to greater flexing of tyres, which in terms leads to overheating of them as there would be an increase in rolling resistance. When tyres are “flabby”, a larger surface area is in contact with the ground which leads to additional energy consumption. For a standard tyre, there would be a standard grading of its pressure as marked on the tyre rim itself for optimal pressure. The standards are set by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in America, or by the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) among the European Union. In Singapore, most of the tyres are imported from Europe, Japan or America, therefore the optimal pressures are indicated, but as to whether the drivers of the freight companies are following the optimal pressure on the tyre is another issue. In this project, the author aims to look into the attitude of companies towards good tyre pressure maintenance, the “Singapore” way of how drivers maintain their tyres, and lastly, a conclusion to indicate if good tyre pressure practices are relevant and applicable in Singapore. The author went first went through setting of survey questions regarding the common tyre practices of local freight companies, and found out some their common tyre practices- A series of questions dwelled on how tyres are checked to how tyres are pumped to the frequencies of check and pump for local freight companies. The surveys were sent out in the form of mails and 32 mails were received back from 1000 mails sent and the data were then evaluated by the author. It was found that most of companies they do actually do the standard checking and pumping regularly.