For fleet managers, few things are more important than ensuring their commercial truck tires are safe and reliable. That’s why it’s crucial for fleets to understand the life cycle of their truck tires so they know when it’s time to replace them. There are many signs that fleet managers can watch out for that will indicate the need for replacement or tire retreading, and developing a visual inspection routine with your drivers will help you catch these symptoms early and avoid unnecessary downtime.
While there are no laws limiting the usage of old tires, general best practices stipulate that tires older than seven years should be replaced in passenger, light truck, and four wheeled vehicle applications. Many believe that regardless of appearance, condition, or remaining tread depth, tires of a certain age must be replaced due to degradation of rubber compounds and potentially dangerous dry rotting.. Similar best practices in the commercial trucking space are utilized as well, with differences between certain industries:
Rather than relying on a tire’s age limit, fleet managers should depend on alternative methods for identifying when their tires have reached the end of their useful life, such as mileage, and tread depth.
Your commercial truck tires’ lifespan is impacted by a number of factors. The following can help you form clearer expectations for your commercial tires’ duty cycle:
To get the most out of your commercial truck tires, you’ll need to implement a preventative maintenance strategy by partnering with a knowledgeable provider like STTC. Our team offers exceptional maintenance and retread tire services to help keep your tires on the road for longer.
At STTC, our team provides fleets with the retread tires and preventative maintenance services they need to get the most out of the tires’ lifespan. Our knowledgeable tire technicians have the skills and tools you need to keep your fleet’s tires on the road for longer. Contact us today to learn more about how partnering with STTC can help your commercial fleet avoid premature blowouts and unnecessary downtime!