How often have you driven past a big semi-trailer and thought about the cost of replacing all those tyres? Never? Well GoodYear have been doing just that, leading to the release of its new self-inflating tyre technology for commercial vehicles.

Put simply, if tyres are kept inflated at their optimal level, the wear is more even and the life is longer. This means that replacement costs are kept low.

What the AMT (Air Management Technology) does is use an internal sensor to detect when pressure has dropped below a certain level, opening up a regulator which actually allows air to flow into the tyre cavity and results in optimised pressures.

It’s all very fancy and complicated, but if you think about the cost benefits of this technology in increasing tyre life and improving fuel economy – let along the environmental impact – this is a really important step forward for tyre technology and its real world application.