For the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, much of the talk had surrounded one team using under-inflated footballs in the conference championship game. While the debate has not discovered if there is a competitive advantage to using deflated footballs, we do know that in the trucking industry using under-inflated tires is a big risk.
Coaches and players have been quoted saying they don’t know much about pounds per square inch (PSI), but that isn’t something you want to hear from your truck drivers or maintenance personnel.
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In the trucking industry, drivers and maintenance employees are the quarterbacks and coaches of your operation. Without them executing a tire management game plan, trucks may not make it on the field.
Follow these X’s and O’s of tire management to keep your truck or fleet in championship condition:
- Don’t leave your drivers sidelined because of under-inflated tires. During daily inspections, drivers must check tires for proper inflation. Drivers should also check for punctures, defects, cuts, tears and irregular wear. Tires under-inflated by more than 10 PSI should be immediately removed and inspected to determine why they deflated. Tire pressure should also be the first thing checked when tractors and trailers come in for maintenance and when they are fueled.
- Don’t fumble your operation because of tire health. When checking tires for proper inflation, they also need to be checked for tread depth. Replace tires that have a tread depth less than 4/32 of an inch.
- Don’t get sacked because of your tires. Make sure the tires are properly aligned, if not they can cause excessive drag. Matching tires by tread depth, design and size can also optimize rolling resistance.
- Don’t get penalized with the wrong tires for your business. The first step in tire safety is making sure the tire selection is specified based on a customer’s specific application. Fuel-efficient tires and retreads are available, but not necessary for every application. Putting the wrong tire on a vehicle can lead to blowouts and breakdowns.
- Don’t let your game-winning drive end because of premature failures, blowouts and breakdowns. In a past analysis of breakdown data, Ryder found that nearly 24 percent of breakdown calls were tire related.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), having your tires properly inflated and maintained can lead to a 10% longer tire life. It can also lead to a 1.4% improvement in fuel economy per vehicle.
A tire management program isn’t just here so companies don’t get fined. They are implemented to ensure safety of the drivers, freight and everyone on the road. The program is an important game plan to drive bottom-line results and meet customer demands.
We may never know if under-inflated footballs truly played a role in who made it to this year’s Super Bowl. What we do know is that in the trucking industry, not having a tire maintenance program in place can cause your truck to never get off the sidelines.
This article was originally featured on the Ryder System Inc blog.
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