Accurate Mileage Measurement

Vehicle mileage measurement is critical for preventative maintenance, asset utilization, and cost comparison. Where the vehicle is fitted with and odometer this can be used as an indication of distance travelled, however not always accurately. In the case of trailers where and odometer is not fitted, the Hubodometer is the obvious choice.

In this article, we consider the details, pro’s and cons of various distance measurements.

Vehicle Odometer Accuracy – OEM integrated into the vehicle’s electrical / electronic systems

Vehicle odometer accuracy: – SAE international (Society of Automotive Engineers) recommends an Odometer tolerance of +/- 2.5%*, although it is important to note that this is only a recommendation / guidance and is not a legal requirement or even an industry standard.

*Source, SAE international, surface vehicle recommended practice, J2976 May 2022 – latest iteration.

There is anecdotal evidence of Odometers running at up to +/- 4% tolerances as there are no specific standards / legislation for compliance. If true distance measurement is important the onboard odometer cannot necessarily be relied on.

Vehicle mounted GPS telematics

Use of GPS telematics for distance measurement. The USA government notes that the GPS system available to the public operates on a 95%** probability, it has a +/- 5% variance.

**Source, https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/performance/accuracy

GPS systems, whilst good at approximate locations, become progressively more inaccurate as speed varies and the subject makes more turns. These variances depend on a number of factors*** including: – Propagation delay, Drift in the GPS clock,  Ephemeris error: the calculation of the orbital position of a GPS  satellite at a given time, Hardware error, Multipath propagation: terrestrial objects close to the receiver (such as tall buildings), Satellite geometry: an favourable geometric constellation of the satellites reduces the accuracy of positioning results. This is referred to in the International Journal of Geographical Information Science paper on over estimating GPS distances.

***Source, International Journal of Geographical Information Science – ISSN 1365-8816

Use of a Hubodometer for accurate distance measurements

A Hubodometer (or Hubo) is a precision engineered device designed with a single task in mind,  the accurate and robust measurement of distance travelled in miles or kilometers. Each Hubo is designed to work with a specific tyre size for maximum accuracy from day one. A Hubo does not rely on digital sampling of data, or any form of connection to an external system it cannot be tampered with, or lose the data due to software faults or similar. The Hubo simply measures every turn of the wheel with unparalleled accuracy, typically starting tolerance of with 0.1% on a new tyre and running to approximately 1% over read as the tyre wears toward the end of its life.

For more information on Hubodometers visit : https://www.secureseal.com/products/hubodometer