Reduced pressure helps save the environment

Kenworth T909 Tri Drive Train Tractor unit fitted with Bigfoot equipment.

Central tyre inflation allows vehicle operators or drivers to alter air pressures from their cab to adjust them to the speed, the load and the type of road or terrain.

The technology was originally developed in the 1940s to increase the effectiveness of military vehicles on poor traction surfaces such as desert sands.

It has since evolved with much of the development being led by the need to meet the demands of the logging industry, which aimed to reduce the costs associated with maintaining low volume forestry roads.

Lowering the tyre's air pressure creates a larger area of contact, making it easier to drive on soft ground.

The aim is to spread heavy loads over a wider footprint. The ability to control the amount of pressure in each tire also increases manoeuvrability. The system is used extensively in places like New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, North America and the UK, and helps reduce the environmental impact when transporting logs.

Bigfoot Equipment's Neil Wylie said more than 90 per cent of the company's sales were to logging trucks.

"It's been very much led by the logging industry," said Mr Wylie, who noted that forestry companies wanted trucks to have the systems to reduce the road construction and maintenance costs.

"Other sectors of the transport industry have been slow on the uptake.

"But it's starting to happen a bit now in stock and tipping trucks.

"Operators in other sectors are now realising the benefits of lowering tyre pressures aren't just for forestry."