Truck tire control: 4 basic strategies

Truck tire control is an activity that should be part of fleets' routine and cannot be neglected.

Taking care of these assets contributes to saving resources and money, in addition to providing safety and productivity in operations.

Learn more below:

The importance of controlling truck tires;
Fundamental truck tire control strategies;
Main tools to speed up truck tire control.

The importance of controlling truck tires

Having good truck tire control is a big part of the work of delivering positive results in your fleet management, because tires are indispensable items for vehicles to run and contribute to their proper performance.

Safety, efficiency and savings are the keywords of this control.

In addition, a major goal (and benefit) of this function is to ensure tire durability, preventing excessive wear — something that, as a consequence, increases your fleet's purchasing and maintenance costs.

Fundamental truck tire control strategies

Check tire pressure

By checking tire pressure, you can identify when the tire is above or below the ideal calibration and make the most appropriate correction for each situation.

It is important to carry out this task so that losses and risks are avoided. These include: accelerated and irregular tread wear, cuts and punctures, aquaplaning, etc.

There are several ways to do this check, such as the pressure monitoring system (TPMS) and tire pressure inspection, manual or electronic. Each one has its advantages, and you need to understand which alternative will be most practical to include in your operation's routine.

Measure tread depth

It is natural for tire grooves to wear over time, but measuring how fast this happens is one of the best strategies for truck tire control.

This way, you start to understand which model performs better, which has greater durability and which has more problems, and so on.

The measurement can be done manually, with a caliper, or using an electronic tread probe.

Keep preventive maintenance up to date

Taking care of the vehicles is as important as truck tire control. Keeping up with wheel balancing and vehicle alignment services and avoiding wear problems in the brakes or suspension parts will make a big contribution to keeping your tires in good condition.

To be able to control and check whether maintenance is being carried out correctly, first of all, you need a well-defined plan and schedule.

From there, it becomes easier to assess employees' routine and check whether they are completing the assigned maintenance tasks. Having a structured plan helps ensure that activities are carried out consistently and at the right time.

This way, you avoid mechanical problems and optimize tire use.

Manage data and metrics

Each truck tire control routine generates data that you can use to analyze your operation and make more accurate decisions. To get more positive results, prioritize reading and evaluating information that is relevant to the fleet's goals.

Among the metrics and tire performance indicators, you can assess:

Variation in internal pressure over time;
Average tire tread wear;
Tire scrap rate.

In addition, the information collected in the fleet's day-to-day operations, about vehicles and trips, can complement your knowledge of the quality of the tires purchased for your operation, or whether they are just being subjected to “external” problems, such as dangerous driving by drivers.

Main tools to speed up truck tire control

Tire relocation form

Relocation represents the installation or removal of the truck's tires. That is why a relocation form shows a vehicle diagram, where you identify which tires are installed and which relocations were carried out on a given date.

You can include the type of event, whether it is an installation, removal, rotation or whether the tire was removed for retreading or disposal. You can also identify the reason for the action taken.

Tire control spreadsheet

In the tire spreadsheet, you can also control relocations, but usually without the option of a diagram on screen.

With its advantages, this tool organizes information, such as pressure and tread depth readings and the drivers responsible for the activity on each date.

By implementing it in an electronic spreadsheet application, such as Excel, for example, you will have access to a dashboard and simplified reports, but manual entry of the information can still lead to errors and inconsistencies in your analyses.

It is an intermediate option, because it is more efficient than a paper form, but it does not deliver results as consistent as a technology system.

Tire management system

The use of modern technology systems is increasingly common in fleets and transport operations.

In truck tire control, there are some software products focused on this logistics stage, which include tire relocation visualization and functionality, automatic entry of the pressure and tread depth data measured in inspections and automated reports.

Learn even more about a system dedicated to your tire management in a free demonstration.

Frequently asked questions

How do you measure truck tire tread depth?

The measurement can be done manually, with a caliper, or with an electronic tread probe. The point is not just to know the current depth: by measuring regularly, you keep track of how fast the tread wears and start to understand which tire model performs best, which lasts longest and which has the most problems in your operation.

What problems can pressure outside the ideal range cause?

Keeping track of pressure serves to identify when the tire has moved away from the ideal calibration, whether too high or too low, and to correct each situation. Among the losses and risks this routine helps avoid are accelerated and irregular tread wear, cuts and punctures, and aquaplaning. Pressure can be kept track of with TPMS, the tire pressure monitoring system, or with manual or electronic pressure inspection.

Which tire indicators are worth keeping track of in the fleet?

Three appear as a reference: how much the internal pressure varies over time, the average tread wear and the tire scrap rate. The guidance is to prioritize reading information that is relevant to the fleet's goals, instead of measuring everything. Day-to-day information about vehicles and trips helps separate a tire quality problem from an external cause, such as dangerous driving.

What is the difference between a relocation form and a control spreadsheet?

The relocation form records installations and removals by showing a vehicle diagram: you identify which tires are mounted, the type of event (installation, removal, rotation, sending for retreading or disposal) and the reason for the action, with the date. The spreadsheet also controls relocations, but usually without the diagram on screen; in return, it organizes pressure and tread depth readings and generates a dashboard and simplified reports.

Is a spreadsheet enough, or is it worth moving to a system?

The spreadsheet is an intermediate option: more efficient than the paper form, but with less consistent results than those of a system, because manual entry can still lead to errors and inconsistencies in the analyses. In software dedicated to this logistics stage, there is tire relocation visualization and functionality, the pressure and tread depth data measured in inspections are entered automatically and reports are automated.

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