Controlled Operating Environment™

How fleets unlock the next great advancement in wheel-end performance.

COE CHANGES THE ECONOMICS OF WHEEL-END MAINTENANCE

Routine wheel-end maintenance shouldn't consume more technician time, bay capacity, or fleet uptime than the work actually requires.

By simplifying the primary service interface, The Controlled Operating Environment makes proactive lubricant maintenance faster and more repeatable - turning time traditionally spent removing, cleaning and reinstalling hub caps into capacity the fleet can use elsewhere.

40 MIN

Standard hub cap service

3–5 MIN

The Xtractor® Cartridge service

35+ MIN

Technician time reclaimed per wheel end

SMALL SERVICE SAVINGS BECOME BIG FLEET NUMBERS

On average, hub cap jobs are billed at 40 minutes per wheel-end, reflecting the time required for removal, service, and reinstallation. The Xtractor's HexThread Cartridge system reduces the actual hands-on work to approximately 3–5 minutes.

For a fleet with 100 trailers one service cycle can reclaim more than 230 technician hours.

REMOVE STEPS. REMOVE VARIABILITY.

Variability is one of the hidden costs in fleet maintenance. A fleet may have written procedures, trained technicians, and scheduled PMs, but traditional wheel-end service still leaves room for differences in execution. Over time, those small differences become differences in lubricant cleanliness, wear rate, heat generation, and bearing performance. The more often it happens, and the more locations or technicians involved, the harder it becomes to guarantee that each wheel-end returns to service in the same condition.

TECH #1

Uses a utility knife to scrape hub flange, removing old gasket and burrs. Leaves bearing uncovered and exposed.

TEch #2

Uses a grinder to clean hub flange and remove old gasket material. Leaves hub uncovered and exposed.

Tech #3

Uses sandpaper to clean and prepare hub flange. Uses shop towel to cover hub internals to prevent contamination.

Remove the Cartridge

Leave the hub cap body in place. No removing bolts, scraping spent gaskets, or grinding hub flanges and introducing particulate contaminants into the hub.

Inspect or Replace the Cartridge

While lubricant drains from the hub, inspect the HexThread Cartridge filter for captured particulates. Return to service if clean, or replace if loaded with contamination.

MAKE THE RIGHT MAINTENANCE EASIER TO PERFORM

Hub oil shouldn't need a leak or another repair to create the opportunity for replacement. COE treats lubricant renewal as proactive maintenance. Simplifying access removes much of the labor and disruption surrounding a routine oil change, making lubricant inspection and replacement more practical to incorporate into scheduled PM.

Less friction around maintenance means fewer reasons to defer it.

TECHNICIAN CAPACITY

Spend less technician time on routine hub service and redirect those hours toward higher-value maintenance.

BAY UTILIZATION

Shorter service events reduce the amount of time equipment occupies maintenance capacity for routine wheel-end work.

ASSET AVAILABILITY

Simpler preventive service helps return equipment to operation sooner and makes proactive maintenance easier to schedule.

MAKE SURE YOUR BILLING MODEL CATCHES UP

Faster service only creates savings if the billing structure reflects the work actually being performed.

For in-house maintenance, the benefit is direct: fewer technician hours, less bay time, and more capacity for other work.

For outsourced maintenance, fleets may need to establish a dedicated service code or labor allowance for cartridge service. If a shop continues billing a traditional hub cap minimum for a task that now takes only a few minutes, much of the economic benefit disappears.

CONTROL THE ENVIRONMENT. CHANGE THE ECONOMICS.

COE doesn't eliminate wheel-end maintenance. It's designed to make maintenance more efficient and repeatable.

Protect the wheel-end from contamination. Manage what circulates inside it. Renew lubricant proactively. Make routine service faster and more consistent.

Across hundreds or thousands of wheel-ends, those improvements compound into something fleets can measure: technician hours reclaimed, maintenance capacity increased, service standards improved and more opportunity to protect the life of the components already in service.

CALCULATE THE IMPACT FOR YOUR FLEET >