Your fleet’s tires keep you on the road. They do so much for you but how much are you doing for them? Preventive tire maintenance is crucial to the wellness of your fleet of trucks as well as your overall business operations. Efforts in this area of your business will yield better fuel mileage, a reduction in tire-related roadside emergencies, downtime and an extension in the life of your tires.
The Ultimate Preventive Tire Maintenance Checklist
- Inflation – Monitoring the inflation of your fleet’s tires is one of the most important preventive measures that you can take on to maintain healthy tires for your trucks.
- Tread Depth Measurement – Measuring your fleet’s tread should be done regularly to check for issues like uneven wear and tear. Keeping track of tread depth is important for the life and health of your tires, the safety of your fleet and compliance with regulations.
- Alignment – Proper wheel alignment is a crucial factor in preventative tire maintenance. Assuring good alignment will not only help your fleet avoid irregular wear and tear but also help prevent handling and ride issues.
- Valve Caps – Using a quality valve cap will prevent the likelihood of it getting lost. Regular inspection for valve caps will prevent air loss and additional issues.
- Air Quality – Tires are designed to be filled with clean, dry air. Moist air can break down the inner lining and steel belts. Be sure compressors used have filters and inline dryers.
- Driving Style – Driving style, although a bit harder to measure, can have a major impact on the life and well-being of your tires. Educating your staff about missing pre-trip inspections, aggressive driving, speeding and harsh braking can help alleviate future issues.
- Invest Wisely – Tires are an expensive proposition, but skimping on quality or, even worse, paying top dollar for a tire that isn’t right for your application can be a waste of money and hurt your fleet’s productivity.
- Record-keeping – Analyzing the life of your tires, developing a cost per mile metric and scrap tire evaluation efforts will help you identify possible issues and reflect on your tire investments.
There are many things that contribute to your tires’ good health or lack thereof, but using the eight-point checklist to stay on top of preventive tire maintenance will help you monitor the most common issues that reduce the life of your fleet’s tires and can directly affect your trucking business’s bottom line.
Utilizing the support of a company like Wiers Fleet Partners that brings over 100 years of expertise in proactive truck maintenance can help you stay on top of your preventive tire maintenance and keep your trucks on the road with healthy tires.
Find out how Wiers can become your maintenance solution today!
