early, removing tires for retreading they enter a fleet through whatever at the appropriate time, or keeping number of times they are retreaded air pressure in tires consistent, these before ultimately being considered pivotal actions are keys to increasing worn out. the overall performance of tires and “The primary focus of progressive reducing cost per mile.” fleet managers and truck owners is “Tire maintenance can be a sub- to optimize the tire’s performance stantial investment, but the good and usage during its original tread news is it’s one of the few costs of life,” says CMA’s Murphy. “However, doing business that is 100% con- in today’s’ manufacturing world, the trollable by the fleet,” contends low rolling-resistance tires are perYokohama’s Phillips. Also, advises forming well versus standard tires Goodyear’s Kramer, be aware that when benchmarking tread mileage.” the recent tightening of stoppingBridgestone’s Walenga points out distance rules for brakes may result in “panic stops disturbing the alignment settings on tandem axles. If the fleet does not look for and adjust for this, it will lose miles per gallon as well as tread miles. The solution is more consistent inspection of front and rear axle alignment, including performing an alignment check after a panic stop was detected.” “Alignment is impor- Proper inflation ensures tant, but a fleet needs to quality casings that can keep a close eye on the be retreaded. total tire and wheel system,” recommends Justin Wright, product marketing man- that when fleets buy a new tire or ager-commercial tires for Giti Tire retread an existing casing, “they’re (USA), which markets GT Radial buying the latest tire technology.” He truck tires. “A vehicle can be per- says to bear in mind that the “CPM fectly aligned and still incur irregu- of a retreaded tire is cheaper to begin lar tire wear due to other mainte- with” because the initial investment nance–related issues,” he continues. in the casing has already been made. “For example, wheel bearings could Walenga adds that fleets “opting to retread quality tires need to mainbe loose.” tain them truly as assets throughout Born again their lifecycle.” Truck owners have for decades “For successful retreading, we measured a tire’s “retreadability” usually suggest pulling the tire at the by how many “caps” they managed early stage of 6 or 7/32nds,” notes to put on a casing before it became Giti Tire’s Wright. “Go lower than unsuitable to retread once again. that and you’re taking more of a risk But tire and retread suppliers now of damaging the casing.” contend that fleets should think of According to Michelin’s Crehan, casings solely in terms of the total a best practice that should be adoptmileage they deliver from when ed by fleets of any size is to develop Go to AmericanTrucker.com for used equipment listings
a written set of tire-maintenance policies and require that they be followed. “A high percentage of for-hire and private carriers do not have a documented tire-maintenance manual, so their maintenance programs for tires and wheels are not well communicated to their personnel and to their outsourced tire service providers,” concurs Peggy Fisher, president of TireStamp, which provides tiremonitoring and tire-asset management systems. “These written policies should cover such key items as casing management,” points out Crehan. He says it’s especially important to write down how casings should be handled. “ T h e w r it t e n policies on tire care should kick in as soon as tires enter the fleet and reflect the fleet’s unique operation,” continues Crehan. “For example, how far trucks travel in a given day will affect the policies. “The structure has to be in place,” he adds, “so that the fleet’s tire department or vendor knows what to do by vehicle application and wheel position. It’s also critical to have a road-service policy and one regarding the condition of tires needed to adhere to any vehicle resale or lease agreement.” “Most fleets consider premium truck tires to be assets,” Walenga wraps up. “They’re expensive to buy, but their potentially long service life can bring down operating costs.” What makes that possible is how thoroughly and thoughtfully that rubber is cared for—if not outright babied—from infancy to old age. AT
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