Truck preventive maintenance: three tips to help you extend the life of your truck tyres
Truck repair service. Mechanic works with tire in truck workshop.
Truck preventive maintenance: three tips to help you extend
Every truck driver knows the frustration of a roadside breakdown – it's stressful, expensive and time consuming. The good news? Many of these breakdowns are preventable.
While some unexpected downtime and corrective maintenance are inevitable, strengthening your preventive maintenance practices can deliver significant benefits. A well-planned maintenance strategy including truck tyres helps prevent breakdowns, reduce vehicle downtime, lower repair costs and even extend the life of your tyres.
A roadside breakdown can cost four times as much as a repair carried out in a workshop (1). Sidelined drivers lose hours waiting for a tow, waiting for parts and waiting for an emergency repair. Meanwhile, your trucks ౼ and the goods they transport ౼ are off the road, cutting into productivity and profits. By investing in truck preventive maintenance, you can sidestep these headaches and ensure your fleet operates more efficiently.
In this article, we’ll cover a crucial preventive maintenance checklist for heavy-duty trucks, including three tips for proactive tyre care to help you maximise performance, minimise downtime and keep your drivers safe!
Tip 1: Preventive maintenance start by driver training
Taking the time to identify minor issues and scheduling repairs to take place when a vehicle is not needed on the road can avoid unscheduled time in the workshop and reduce downtime.
This can include inspecting batteries, brakes, issues with clutches, coolant levels and other liquids, as well as mirror, wiper and windscreen maintenance. Many breakdowns can be avoided by teaching your team to recognise early warning signs.
Regarding tyres, training drivers to perform thorough “roadworthiness” checks before and after each trip is a cornerstone of preventive truck tyre maintenance.
To be performed daily, the inspection must remain visual, easy, and not require any special tools.
- Wear Level: Assess the overall wear level of the tyre by checking the tread wear indicators and look for uneven wear patterns.
- Tread: Look for foreign objects lodged in the tread, and any signs of blistering or cracking.
- Sidewall: Inspect the sidewalls for any visible damage such as cuts, tears, bulges, or cracks.
- At the valve: Check the valve for any signs of damage or air leaks.
Check truck tyres to identify visible damage on the sidewalls or tread
Did you know?
MICHELIN truck tyres often feature a small MICHELIN man logo on the sidewall, which can help indicate the location of the tread wear indicators.
In addition of this visual check, the pressure of truck tyres should be checked regularly. Proper inflation is critical for safety, fuel efficiency and tyre longevity.
Ideally, the tyre pressure must be controled:
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Before Long Trips: Always check tyre pressure before embarking on long journeys to ensure safety and optimal performance.
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At Least Once a Month: Conduct pressure checks at least once a month as part of routine maintenance.
It's important to adhere to tyre pressure Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) recommendations for optimal performance and safety.
Did you know?
It is essential to check the tyre pressure when the tyres are cold, typically after the vehicle has been stationary for several hours. Cold tyre readings are more accurate because the pressure increases as the tyres heat up during driving.
Tip 2: Look for the signs to plan preventive maintenance
Pay attention to all the signs! For example, flickering lights while idling might indicate an issue with the alternator or battery, while engine overheating could point to radiator problems. Left unaddressed, these small warnings can escalate into costly repairs. Even something as straightforward as a blinking “check oil” light shouldn’t be ignored.
Be alerted of pressure leak thanks to a TPMS
When it comes to truck tyre maintenance, monitoring tyre inflation pressures is critical.
The implementation of a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) plays a crucial role in the preventive maintenance of heavy-duty tyres. By providing real-time data on tyre pressure, TPMS allows fleet managers and drivers to detect deviations from optimal levels early on.
This capability enables timely interventions to address potential issues before they escalate, ultimately preventing costly repairs or tyre failures.
Additionally, properly inflated tyres wear more evenly, improve fuel efficiency, reduce the risk of blowouts and enhance driver safety.
Identify tyre issues thanks to uneven wear patterns causes
Uneven tyre wear can be a key indicator of potential problems.
For instance, excessive wear in the centre of the tyre often points to overinflation, while heavier wear on the outer edges suggests underinflation or an overloaded vehicle.
If the tyre feels soft or sticky, or if the tread grooves begin to close, this is a clear warning sign of contamination, possibly due to storage in a polluted area or an oil/gas leak affecting the spare.
With this in mind, incorporating regular pressure inspections into your preventative maintenance checklist for heavy-duty trucks can go a long way!
Tip 3: Be supported by technologies and data to plan your preventive maintenance intervention
Whether you’re leveraging cutting-edge technology or relying on tried-and-tested truck tyre maintenance tips, the goal remains the same: stay ahead of potential issues to minimise breakdowns and maximise uptime.
Use your truck data to plan preventive maintenance intervention
One of the hallmarks of preventive maintenance is exploiting the information and data already at your fingertips ౼ including kilometres travelled, hours on the road and theoretical wear projection once the mid-wear point has been passed. All of these practices can minimise general wear and tear and help prevent blowouts ౼ which contribute to nearly 25% of breakdowns (2). All in all, a proactive approach to truck preventive maintenance can reduce repair costs by as much as 50% (3), enhance safety and extend the lifespan of your fleet.
Use preventive maintenance solutions
As technology advances, predictive maintenance is becoming an essential part of heavy truck predictive maintenance checklists. Using onboard sensors and advanced systems, predictive maintenance can automatically detect issues before they arise, streamline part ordering and improve repair scheduling.
This data-driven approach reduces downtime, keeps your trucks on the road and ensures technicians and drivers can make the most of their time.
Even with the best truck preventive maintenance practices, breakdowns can still happen. That’s why it’s essential for your team to be prepared. Start by ensuring drivers know how to stay safe at the roadside, including understanding how to chock the wheels, secure the truck and follow roadside safety protocols.
They should also have a clear plan for who to contact for assistance.
Other articles that may interest you:
Need more advice? Discover all MICHELIN truck tyre tips
(1) https://www.fleetowner.com/operations/maintenance/article/21703593/study-roadside-truck-breakdowns-occur-every-10000-miles
(2) https://www.transforce.com/carriers/carrier-resources/vehicle-maintenance-schedule
(3) https://www.atbs.com/post/5-tips-to-prevent-a-truck-breakdown
