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Nitrofleet99 hybrid tiresNITROGEN TIRE INFLATION TECHNOLOGY PAVES THE WAY FOR SAVINGS ON FUEL LONGER  LASTING TIRES  AND VEHICLE SUSTAINABILITY

In view of the turmoil around the world and the U.S. dependence on foreign oil. NitroFleet99 has pioneered a Nitrogen service model and products that are now available. Previously only used by major industries such as NASCAR, the U.S. Military and the Airline industry, NitroFleet99 now provides nitrogen tire inflation to managed business fleets and consumers through the advanced technology products UltraFill99+ and TireXtender.

“The day has come for nitrogen tire inflation to be embraced in the public domain,” said NitroFleet99’s Founder and CEO Ken Lawton. “It is one of the best pieces of green technology to emerge in years, since our nitrogen services and products will further revolutionize the way people maintain their tires and improve their gas mileage in the long-term.”

Lawton has been invited by President Barack Obama and Al Gore’s Climate Reality Panel in Chicago, July 30 – August 1, to participate in their seminar on sustainable practices and carbon reduction for future generations.

With gas prices still fluctuating wildly due to world economy’s, it’s no surprise Fleet Supervisors and Consumers are looking for an effective way to reduce their dependency on oil. But do they know it’s as easy as changing the type of air that’s in their tires? A recent study by the Ford Motor Company found that the average truck driver saves 3% yearly on gas by converting to nitrogen in their tires, and extends tire wear over the life of their tires by up to 30%

In addition, according to Rubber Manufacturers Association, only one in five drivers check their tire pressure properly. A tire can be 30%-40% deflated and still maintain a normal appearance. Tires inflated with nitrogen feature larger molecules than conventional air to push against the internal walls, effectively maintaining proper pressure and extending the tire’s life up to 30% longer. The Environmental Protection Agency has also recently determined that keeping one’s tires properly inflated can save the average driver over 10 cents a gallon on gas alone. Just as an engine benefits from proper maintenance and top-offs, nitrogen tire inflation provides this same benefit for tires.

About Nitrofleet99

Ken Lawton is the founder and C.E. O. of NitroFleet99, a six-year-old company helping consumers and managed fleets to improve their tire performance through safer, longer lasting tires and improved fuel economy, creating in effect HYBRID TIRES.

No changes need to be made to the vehicle or tire, as the technology is designed to quickly fill automobile and truck tires, large and small. Versatility in varied climates further sets our technology apart from other Nitrogen systems that are membrane-based.

TireXtender is an aerosol top-off product that enables owners of nitrogen-inflated tires to easily maintain high Nitrogen purity, important for the optimal benefits of improved fuel economy, tire wear and ease of maintenance. Analogous to the quart of oil owners use to maintain optimal efficiency and performance with their engines, TireXtender and NitroFleet99 provide the winning combination for peak performance in all inflated tires.

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Related Links:

Managed Fleets and Ending America’s Dependence on Foreign Oil

Hybrid Tires and a Network of Nitrogen Services

Managed Fleets Large and Small Improve Bottom Line with Nitrogen Tire Inflation

Below is part two of the nitrogen in your tires video series. You can catch part one here, although you don’t need to watch part one in order to understand part two. Enjoy!

Well, those prices are taking a hit on many people’s pocketbooks but there are ways to save a little moneyAnd it doesn’t involve buying a new car. Heidi Glaus joins us with more. Heidi –
Glaus: Well, yeah, with prices the way they are these days everyone is looking for the smallest thing to cut back on. Ken Lawton from Go Nitro Tire might have the solution. So, what are the benefits of filling your tires with nitrogen?
Lawton: Well, Heidi, the first and most important benefit is safety. Maintenance, fuel economy, and longer tire wear; these represent the core of benefits for nitrogen-inflated tires.
Glaus: So, this is the kind of machine we’re going to be looking at. But, unlike now when we pull up to a gas station, you can’t just put in a quarter, 50 cents, and fill up your tires. This is going to take somebody special.
Lawton: It’s going to take a technician. Typically, for a conventional car, it takes six to 10 minutes for all four tires simultaneously to be done
Glaus: And, that’ll cost a consumer how much?
Lawton: At a tire store or an automotive group, it’ll cost anywhere from $24.95 to $49.95.
Glaus: And, you were saying that these aren’t really everywhere yet?
Lawton: No, they’re not. There’s just under 500 nitrogen service providers here in the United States. That number is changing and growing rapidly but it’s still a small number for the size of the population.

One of the ways we that we come up with blog post ideas is that we look at competing blogs to find topic ideas that we haven’t yet covered. By simply taking a title, topic, or keyword, we then write our own nitrogen tire inflation article with our own perspective and information. It was through this routine process the other day that we came across a video of… ourselves.

While looking through the competitor’s blog, we found a post that had a video in it. We noticed that in the video screenshot was a man that looked a lot like Ken Lawton, the CEO of Nitrofleet99. Curious, we watched the video. Sure enough, it was Ken! Not only did this competitor post a video that showcased his competitor very clearly (the video introduces Ken and shoots a few seconds of Nitrofleet99’s banner) , the video was an interview with Ken about nitrogen tire inflation. The competitor was never featured in the two and half-minute piece! We found it interesting that our competitor shared a video about nitrogen tire inflation, but failed to consider the his direct competitor was the one prominently featured as the source and expert on the issue. He focused too much on the fact that the video was about nitrogen tire inflation.

We couldn’t not share this video and this story! The video (which is part one of two, another fact the competitor failed to notice) and its transcript are below. We will share part two and its transcript next week.

Transcript

But, with the average price of gas in St. Louis at $3.87 a gallon this morning, filling up your tank is not something to be taken lightly these days. But, there are ways to save a little money at the pump and Heidi Glaus is here to share the secrets. Heidi-

Glaus: Yeah, well there’s a lot to know about filling your tires and what that can do for your gas mileage. So, this is Ken Lawton and you’re all about the nitrogen, which is some people have probably heard about but maybe they don’t know exactly what filling your tires with nitrogen can do.

Lawton: Heidi, nitrogen tire inflation has been around for a very long time. The military, the NASCAR community, and big business has been using nitrogen for over twenty years.

Glaus: So, what you’re saying is that it hasn’t really been affordable to the common person for the last few years?

Lawton: It is completely been unaffordable due to the technology changes; in recent years have made it affordable to automotive groups and tire stores and the public in general. So, it is come of age.

Glaus: So what are we talking; what are the benefits of using nitrogen instead of, you know, oxygen?

Lawton: Well, it begins with aging. The oxygen in air degredates tires and causes premature aging. The tire of simply wears out more quickly. With nitrogen, what you have is the benefit of a completely dry, inert air that simply makes the tire perform as a hybrid. What you’re doing by converting to nitrogen is creating a hybrid tire.

Glaus: Really! So, we hear all about the hybrid cars and all of that and this is just what we’re doing to the tires. So, how much can somebody save on gas mileage by filling a tire with nitrogen?

Lawton: Well, various studies have been done by Ford Motors, Exxon Mobil has done studies as well. What we’re finding is savings up to ten percent on fuel and extended tire wear by up to 30 percent. This is significant information for consumers.

managed fleet

A managed fleet like this can save a lot of money with nitrogen tire inflation.

A boost in equipment and maintenance doesn’t necessarily need a brand new device or technology. Sometimes, a great change can come from doing something differently.

That’s the case with nitrogen tire inflation, the practice of inflating tires with nitrogen instead of compressed air. Nitrogen has been used by the airline industry and NASCAR for decades, and has only recently begun to make its way into the trucking industry.

“The two largest costs for trucking fleets are tires and fuel,” said Ken Lawton, CEO of Nitrofleet99. Nitrofleet99, based in Brentwood, Tenn., is a nitrogen tire inflation systems firm that has worked with various trucking fleets around the country.

“Managed fleets are the biggest beneficiaries of nitrogen tire inflation,” Lawton said. “By using nitrogen, there is an increase in fuel economy and an improvement in mileage and carbon emissions.”

Air is already 78 percent nitrogen, but it’s not necessarily the nitrogen that improves tire performance. It’s the other 21 percent of the air that’s the problem. That other 21 percent includes oxygen and water vapor. The oxygen reacts with the rubber, destroying it over time. The water vapor makes the tire more susceptible to temperature changes, causing the tire pressure to fluctuate. The nitrogen used is a dry gas that isn’t affected by the rubber or the temperature changes.

That’s the exact philosophy behind Wood County Bandag, a truck tire retreading company in Bowling Green, Ohio. President Jim Keiser said that a client mentioned the idea eight years ago, and now utilizes nitrogen in every single tire retreaded and every single tire in its own fleet of 16 vehicles.

“There isn’t one reason for a trucking company not to be using it,” Keiser said. “There’s a whole list of benefits, and it saves them money.”

Keiser explained the temperature buildup that takes place as trucks spend the long hours driving affects the air pressure as well as the quality of the ride. As air-filled tires warm up, they increase in pressure, so much so that the driver “feels each bump like there are stones underneath the tire.”

“The temperature builds up as the tire has less pressure,” Keiser said. “The road running temperature of a tire is 190 degrees. If the tire gets up to 250 degrees, it will fail within an hour. At 275 degrees, it will fail catastrophically.”

Ever since Wood County Bandag implemented nitrogen, Keiser said that the fail rate of those tires is exponentially lower. That’s something that trucking fleets around the country are noticing.

“You get a more consistent tire pressure,” said Dave Kuppler, Group Manager of Health and Environmental Services for the City of St. Peters, Mo. “They aren’t working at optimum if the tire pressure is low.”

The City of St. Peters started using nitrogen tire inflation five years ago on its entire fleet of 261 vehicles, which includes everything from police cars to solid waste trucks. The city noticed that the tires on its vehicles kept on coming in with low tire pressures.

“With nitrogen, we use less tires and gas and it saves money,” Kuppler said. “The tire pressure is better, which is also better for safety.”

Chad Sanders, Founder of N2Generator, agreed that nitrogen tire inflation can lower the risk of a blowout because the nitrogen maintains proper tire pressure three to four times longer with less fluctuation than regular air. N2Generator is a nitrogen systems dealer based in Woodstock, Ga. that primarily works with automotive dealerships, but has also worked with smaller trucking fleets.

“If a fleet owner sees a 20 percent increase in tire life and a seven percent increase in fuel economy, that’s upwards of a million dollars in savings,” Sanders said.

How does nitrogen maintain proper tire pressure longer than air? The air molecules are three to four times smaller than nitrogen, so they have harder time migrating through the casing. Also, as mentioned previously, the fact that the nitrogen used is a dry, inert gas also makes a difference in maintaining proper tire pressure.

Proper tire pressure and improved mileage were the exact things that Allied Republic found when it conducted a test of nitrogen tire inflation on a small portion of its fleet. The original testing was conducted in the fall of 2008, when a regional vice president thought that the new technology was worth exploring. Allied Republic has over 60,000 vehicles in its fleet, and now uses nitrogen in the tires of every single one of them.

“The original testing we did across 300 [trucks] in service and new trucks in our fleet showed us that after 90 days of monthly preventative maintenance, fuel usage improved by one to two percent on new trucks and between three to four percent on in service trucks,” said Robert McClellon, General Manager for Allied Republic. “We were all pretty amazed.”

A few percentage points may not seem like a lot of benefit, but for a fleet of 60,000, a few percentage points can add up to immense savings. It might not be the seven percent that Sanders said, but with gas at all-time highs, and fuel approximately 25 percent of the costs of an average trucking fleet, every little bit of savings can affect the bottom line.

“This is a chance to have a better maintenance program,” said Lawton of Nitrofleet99. “The bigger the fleet, the bigger the benefit.”

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The current national average for gas prices is $3.83 per gallon. That’s three cents up from last week, and 30 cents higher than a month ago. It may be time to make a gas buddy by taking a few moments only to find the cheapest gas in your area. Or simply drive less and ride your bike, or walk more. There are plenty of ways to save money on gas, so if you haven’t started thinking of ways to save yet, now would be the time to start.

Now, one way to save gas money is to make our vehicles more efficient. I don’t mean turning them into hybrids. I mean simply maintaining your vehicle, or doing a few small things just a little bit differently. So, what can be done to make your car more of a penny saver instead of a penny pincher?

An informal study from Carnegie Mellon University found that the average person who drives 12,000 miles yearly on under-inflated tires uses about 144 extra gallons of gas, at a cost of $300-$500 a year. Keeping those tires properly inflated would save a few hundred dollars, which the average consumer could easily use in today’s economy. A better way to keep tires properly inflated longer is with nitrogen tire inflation. Keep in mind that regularly inflating your tire with nitrogen doesn’t replace the importance of checking your tire pressure regularly.

Inflating your tire with nitrogen also increases the life of your tire and your car. Nitrogen is a dry, non-corrosive gas and will reduce oxidation and rust due to the absence of oxygen and moisture. This will help minimize wheel corrosion to promote better bead sealing. Nitrogen tire inflation has routinely been used by airlines and racing vehicles, but the practice could prove beneficial for drivers who drive infrequently (car collectors, track drivers, snow tire users, motor home owners, etc).

The best thing about nitrogen tire inflation is that you don’t need to remove the air from you tires to make the switch. Why wait for your tires to lose pressure and risk something happening, when you can start saving money today?


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