For more on tire maintenance:
This is Part Three of a three-part story. Click here to read Part One, and here to read Part Two.
What you'll learn in this story:
- How poor maintenance can outmatch even the best tires
- How today's tires are aiming to meet fleet needs
Tires often get the blame for poor performance and durability, when they are actually only the messengers, signaling the existence of a significant chassis-related problem.
“When we talk about tires, it’s really about the suspension,” said Jeremy Gough, associate vice president of national fleet maintenance at Canadian-based Bison Transport. “If you don’t do the preventive maintenance on your suspensions, you’re not going to be successful, even with a top-tier tire. You need to have everything in your preventive maintenance cycles set up perfectly, including suspension, vehicle alignment, and inflation pressure. It won’t work out well any other way.”
If you’re honest about it, and you recognize there’s weakness in the shop, then maybe a more durable tire is the best choice. You might, but not always, give up a little fuel economy, but you could cut down on the tire spend by keeping them in service longer.
“Our primary focus is durability and its direct correlation to our safety,” stated John Shepard, FTC Transportation senior director of operations. “We are willing to pay a little more up-front for tires, with the result being durability and better fuel mileage.
“Every one of our tires is stamped for tracking purposes,” he added. “If we see an increase in rubber consumption or a slip in their durability, we start drilling into the root causes and working to address the issue, whether it’s weather-related, under-inflated, tire defects, quality of tires, etc.”
Today's tires are different
Let’s face it; trucking is a pretty conservative industry. One of the lines most often heard when spec’ing trucks is, ‘I want the same thing I had last time.’
That’s probably true for tires as well. But chances are your next tire will be better in many ways than the one you bought last time.
“Tire design and manufacturing today are almost custom,” said Tom Clauer, Yokohama Tire’s senior manager of commercial product planning. “Over the years we have been able to scrutinize the trucking-transportation industry and work with equipment OEMs and fleets to develop tires that deliver a wide variety of performance aspects.”
The digital age and the speed and accuracy with which service data can be analyzed have brought about some remarkable changes in tire design and construction. Fleets no longer need to choose between key features; they can now get enough of everything they want in a single tire.
“We have been gathering data from the field with advanced digital tools, and by leveraging this data, we can develop tires that address the pain points across various segments and regions,” says Tim Netzel, marketing director at Bridgestone Americas, commercial off the road tires. “These learnings are applied to every stage of the tire design process to ensure the final product thrives in the environment it was made for.”
About the Author
Jim Park
Jim Park is an award-winning journalist who has covered the trucking industry since 1998. Prior to that, he racked up 2 million miles as a driver and owner-operator pulling tank trailers over-the-road. He continues to maintain his CLD.
Jim's previous driving experience brings a real-world perspective to his work. Jim's strong suits are equipment and technical matters, emerging technology, vehicle spec'ing, safety, and driver issues. He has hosted an overnight radio show for truckers, produced many technical and training videos, and has published three research papers on driver fatigue and the driver shortage. He has earned 9 Jesse H. Neal awards, including “Best Range of Work by a Single Author” in 2020.