Grade your tire program
Not many years ago, the success of a fleet tire program was defined by the frequency and costs of crises or problems. These were culled out of periodic expense reports, or perhaps a tire-cost-per-mile figure. This type of management by exception simply won’t cut it in today’s cost competitive business environment. Several important points are
Tire wear troubleshooting tips
Tire wear issues, especially accelerated wear, can be frustrating and expensive. An expanding variety of vocation-specific trucks, engine and other drivetrain component trends, as well as unique service conditions, can result in a mismatch of tire performance and expectations. While the basic mechanisms of tire wear haven’t changed significantly since the introduction of tubeless radials,
Tires: assets or expense?
The life-cycle cost approach to tire management isn’t new. Manufacturers have been preaching this for years as a way to quantify the benefits of purchasing premium tires—with premium casings—as justification for the higher initial expense of top quality tires. Mostly, this scenario is built around retreading as a way to postpone the purchase of expensive
TPMS: one size may not fit all
It appears that tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are poised to enter the age of modern reliable electronics. This should be a very good thing for the trucking industry. I believe that TPMS will become standard equipment on new over-the-road trucks, tractors and trailers in a few short years. The driving force will be operating
Use resources to manage tires
With much of my career focused on technical consulting, sales training and interacting with tire and trucking industry professionals, I feel qualified to offer one overall observation for improvement: Become aware and take advantage of readily available resources to enhance decision making and the performance of your employees. There are very few problems that someone
Productive cooperation: a new solution
Communication, teamwork, cooperation and other buzzwords aren’t news to those of us in the trucking industry. They represent worthy goals in many instances, but I’ve long had a bit of a problem with the way concepts have been presented. One of the cornerstones of good management has been identifying goals and deploying available resources to
Modern truck tires: sounds of silence
Those of you who have been in the industry for a while can remember when trucks were loud. Sometimes this was intentional, other times the trucks just came that way new. Objections to this noise resulted in the federal government regulations during the 1970s and ‘80s limiting truck noise. At that time, the three primary
Multiple components can influence truck handling
Change is a constant. Never has this been more obvious than in the increasing diversity of vehicle sizes and the configurations and the service conditions they are expected to endure. The days of a typical trucking fleet composed of just linehaul tractors and smaller delivery trucks are rapidly disappearing. Truck brands, many new to the
Axle length matters
Currently, there is discussion in the industry that has the potential to affect tire selection. Ironically, tires themselves aren’t really the issue. The use of new generation wide single tires, primarily the 55 Series designed for over-the-road use, replacing traditional dual sets, is at the heart of the issue. In order to maintain approximately the
Rolling resistance: Part 1 of fuel consumption
Not so long ago, there were three primary criteria for truck tire selection: treadwear, durability and price. Consolidation of the tire manufacturing industry and advances in materials and process technology have brought wear and durability much closer together among tire brands, and at much higher levels of overall performance. It might even be said, provided
Tire fires: a modern version
The best thing about truck tire fires is that they hardly ever happen anymore. There are good reasons for that. One is that steel radials simply don’t fail in this manner. Older, bias-ply tires were built with multiple layers of crossed body plies that flexed as the tire rolled under load. Increased loads, decreased inflation
When tire stems that seem okay fail
Truck maintenance may often seem like a balancing act. This is especially true with new technology, components, environmental regulations and supplier consolidation.