No matter if you are driving a semi-trailer or commercial box truck, Real Truckers must know their truck inside and out.
During your Real Truckers pre-trip checklist visually inspect each tire to verify that the tread is wearing evenly on all tires. Don't depend on "tire thumping," to try and gauge the pressure of your tires while on the road.
Air loss happens naturally with tires, so be sure to check your tire pressure regularly. Below are some tire issues that can take time away from hauling your freight!
Mismatched tires
Mismatched tires are any tire on your truck that doesn’t match each and other tire on your truck. This includes tires from different manufacturers, tires of different sizes or tires at different stages of wear. These types of tires throw off your weight distribution and can cause big problems on the road. At minimum, your tires need to match across the axle. If you have only a few tires replaced, make sure the new tires are on the same axle and that the tires on each dual assembly are of the same size and relative wear. Note: Underinflation can be an issue, too. It’s important to check the load and inflation tables for your truck and freight and inflate your tires to the recommended inflation pressure for each tire.
Uneven Tire Tread Wear
Uneven wear can let you know about mechanical issues with your truck such as alignment and failure to balance and/or rotate the tires. But, if you catch uneven wear early the wear patterns can be corrected by a mechanic. Don’t forget, our buddies at Drive Logistics can point you in the right direction on all your tire need questions and needs!