Pressure Systems International, manufacturer of the Meritor Tire Inflation System by PSI with ThermAlert technology, has chosen Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. to receive its inaugural ThermAlert Athena Award. This award will be given each year to the company who does the most to increase the use of ThermAlert, which is designed to sense excessive wheel-end heat buildup and warn the vehicle operator before the excessive heat results in wheel loss, wheel-end failures and possibly dangerous and costly trailer fires.
The award was named “Athena” after the mythical Greek goddess who was considered a champion of protection, craftsmanship, logic and wisdom. “Utility is now offering their customers ThermAlert at no additional cost when MTIS is installed,” says Tim Musgrave, president and chief executive officer for PSI. “We appreciate that Utility recognizes the benefit of this technology in preventing heat-related damage initiating in the wheel end. We believe fleets that have this capability on their trailers will reduce overall costs by preventing out-of-service incidents caused by wheel-end heat buildup.”
PSI says that Utility has furnished more than 400 fleets the ThermAlert product since going standard with it in June 2007. “When we first developed automatic tire inflation systems in 1993, we did not realize that the base of the system could be used for more than just the very important proper inflation of trailer tires,” says Frank Sonzala, executive vice president of PSI, during the presentation to Gareth Macklam and Sal Molina, representing Utility Trailers at the mid-April Fleet Technology event held at PSI’s corporate headquarters in San Antonio. “The incorporation of this additional safety item adds a new dimension and even better ROI to an already financially valuable system to the heavy-duty market. We praise Utility Trailers for their dedication to active promotion of the ThermAlert product.”
Macklam says MTIS by PSI with ThermAlert technology is the Utility standard because it makes sense as a safety item and a valuable product in today’s market. “With fuel at over $4 a gallon and tire prices rising continually, proper tire inflation is a must, and the insurance of the ThermAlert technology is just an added benefit,” Macklam says.
This award adds to another first that Utility Trailers — based in City of Industry, Calif. — has garnered from PSI. They were the first OEM to be awarded The Customer Excellence Award in 2005, which is attributed to the sales of the Meritor Tire Inflation System by PSI.
