Improve Safety and Reduce Violations With Proper Semi Truck Tire Maintenance

While you should strictly follow manufacturer guidelines and routinely bring your rig in for commercial truck services, keeping an eye on your tires between runs is important. A quick and simple walk-by can help you spot types of wear that you can efficiently address before taking freight out on the road.

Noticeable cuts or missing portions of tire treads are signs you need tire maintenance. This type of tire wear is commonly caused by driving on rough surfaces or improper operation. Cuts and chunks may also be a symptom of using the wrong tire type for your cargo.

Spin damage is easily recognized by the gashes or missing tread that goes entirely around the tire. You’re most often going to find spin damage when the tire is making contact with another part of your truck, like mud flaps or bumpers. Slick surfaces and loose pavement are also leading causes of spinning wheels. Truck tire repairs are possible for spin damage, but only if the damage does not go below the tread groove base.

Skidding is often caused by driver error, new brakes, unbalanced braking systems, or frozen brake lines. Abundant wear across the treads is the most common type of tire wear associated with skidding. Tire maintenance is a viable option as long as the damage doesn’t extend into the casing. If the casing is affected, you’ll need more than truck tire repair.

When gravel, rocks, or other loose impediments get stuck between tread depths, you need tire maintenance. Overinflation and misapplication of tires often cause this. Luckily, routine tire maintenance, removing the stones, and ensuring proper inflation should fix any issues and won’t require disposal or major truck tire repairs.

If the lugs around the tires show the high-to-low and front-to-back edge of the tire wear, you’re experiencing heel or toe wear. While you likely won’t require extensive commercial truck tire repairs for this, you should look into your tire maintenance routine. Make sure all tires are inflated to the same pressure and that they’re made for your shipping purposes.

Cupping wear is a symptom of misaligned tires, worn suspensions, and unbalanced tires. Vibrating and shaking, veering, odd noises coming from tires, and faulty wheel alignment are all signs of cupping. The predominant signs of this type of tire wear are uneven and scooped out tread areas. Tire maintenance is possible, but cupping damage most likely goes beyond truck tire repair if not detected early.

The Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program takes tire regulations seriously. In fact, of the 12 categories under the vehicle maintenance section that address tires, eight are weighted at the highest severity of importance. Proper tire maintenance and commercial truck tire repairs save you time and money, reduce violations, and lower the risk of flat tires on trucks in your fleet.