Preserved logistics serves to be a cornerstone to promote the brand identity of any business. Trucking companies understand the need for the best quality resources and buy GPS tracker for car and commercial trucks. However, your fleet’s tires are also a crucial investment that you can’t overlook.
No successful fleet owner wants to be in a situation where their vehicles face a breakdown midway. Be it to ensure on-time delivery, a business ride, fieldwork, or a sales call: your business runs on your tires. Regular tire maintenance and enough stock of quality tires are necessary to avoid breakdowns.
The safety of commercial vehicles like trucks is a serious concern for every fleet owner. It is a matter of top priority for the drivers and the supervisors to maintain strict vigilance on tire safety and ensure tire longevity.
For a sustainable strategy to maintain huge fleets, you must know the best practices for tire maintenance.
Proper Tire Inflation
Well-inflated tires with a proper PSI (per square inch) cuts downtime on repairs and unscheduled maintenance. Over-inflation and under-inflation lead to quick wear and tear, disturbance in controlling the vehicle, overheating, and punctures. Your vehicle must accommodate a tire gauge anytime for regular air pressure checks.
Ensure The Alignment
Periodical maintenance ensures the correct alignment of front tires. This act ensures to reset the arrangements as per the manufacturer guidelines. Moreover, a regular tire alignment check helps prevent the over-usage of its capacities and can protect your vehicle from breaking down.
Practice Tire Rotations
Every tire-life wears out on different timelines due to different tread movements. The tire rotation of heavy trucks regularizes the wear of each tire. A systematic rotation of steer tires, directional tires, and drive tires, as suggested in the instructional manual of the vehicle pays off in time.
Be Attentive To Tire Storage
Tires can be introduced to untimely damages if you remain negligent in adopting the right storage methods. Look for a cool and dry place with a shed to store your tires and keep them away from direct sunlight.
Ensure the tires don’t bang into each other or get punctured and place them either in a vertical or horizontal position. To put off early ageing, wash the tires regularly.
Keep Track Of Irregular Wear
Even though you may practice cross-rotations of your vehicle tires, irregular wear conditions happen. Dropping the efficiency of fuel, less mileage, or higher maintenance costs will eventually put forth the need of early tire replacement. To cut it short, ensure you examine the causes of vehicle issues that crop up due to irregular wear of tires.
Be Careful With Tire Selection
Tire designs differ based on the kind of application. Trucks used for construction sites require higher resistant features for cutting and bolting from debris or gravel. Dump trucks that spend more time on roads and highways compared to job sites require open-shoulder drive tires that serve greater tread wear and scrub-resistance.
Tires come in tread designs that serve mixed applications. Over and above, you must make sure you select the right set of tires for the right application. If not, your fleet is likely to suffer from a shorter tire-life span and frequent breakdowns.
Tire Inspection Post Each Trip
You don’t want to shock yourself by looking at a newly bought set of tires showing signs of heavy damage. Tires tread on uneven road surfaces, rocks, potholes, and debris sprawled on roadways, which is unavoidable even for drivers, especially in low-lit locations.
Nevertheless, it results in a tire blowout, incurring huge costs on time and money both. A simple inspection after each trip to locate the underlying problem can help drivers avoid such scenarios altogether.
Be Aware Of Gators
Gators are dangerous pieces of tire littered on the road. They are shreds of the retread tire with textures of worn-out rubber with scales and ridges. As you may have guessed from the name, they resemble the rear look of alligators.
Gators are found on interstate highways that can catch speed up to 75 mph. Keep a sharp eye out for these gators as they can rip off the steering components, bring windshield collision, and may lead to damaged oil pans. Truckers must especially beware of this element during low-light situations to avoid breakdowns.
Commit To Drive Tire-Friendly
Drivers must learn to downscale their driving habits to a level that ensures sustainable tire efficiency. A supervisor can monitor the driving habits of the truckers and vehicle movement by installing a good dash cam.
Rash driving with dangerously high speeds increases friction and leads to heating and wearing out of tires. Moreover, road debris can damage tires and lead to a blowout. Avoid forceful cornering while on dense traffic roadways.
Train Your Drivers Regularly
Your drivers need adequate training on fleet maintenance and operations. During contingent situations like a tire going flat, the driver must know their way around a tire change.
Drivers with habits like quick acceleration or sudden jolting tend to damage their tires. Such operators must be instructed to drive with care and maintain a decent speed to promote tire conservation.
Keep Safety Checklist
Be sure to keep a safety checklist inside each of your vehicles for drivers to refer to on an ongoing basis. The list typically includes periodical inspections and necessary markings before the next road trip begins.
Truckers must check for any tears, punctures, cracks, or tire spare part damages before hitting the road. Rims and wheels must be observed to remove debris. Tire pressures and tread depths must be noted.
Simple Methods To Eliminate Higher Costs!
Tire maintenance is one of the simplest acts of fleet management operations but serves to be the most important element in improving business productivity.
You can succeed in your business when you align and maintain your resources efficiently. In a clustered range of vehicles, it’s vital to draw up a systematic tire-plan for each one.
Consistent practice of regular inspection and maintenance of tires and a well-coordinated team of operators and supervisors can guarantee an increased lifespan of your tires and evade breakdowns.
