Sep 1 2006
During a tire maintenance seminar at the 2006 Great America Trucking Show in Dallas, one of the four panelists, Pat Keating of Hankook Tire, was asked what he considered the most important tool for getting the most from tires.
“Eyeballs and air gauges,” was his reply. The 3 other panelists - from Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Michelin - all agreed with him, and for good reason.
As a member of the audience, I was very impressed with Pat’s reply and as the Managing Director of the Tire Retread Information Bureau, I also totally agree with his statement.
Nothing is more important for proper tire maintenance than the regular use of a properly calibrated air gauge, along with a visual check (“eyeballs”) of ALL the tires including the inside tires on dual wheel assemblies on a truck. The only thing I would add to Pat’s wise words would be what I like to call the “dirty hand” check.
By running his or her hand across each tire at least once weekly, a trucker will soon begin to educate his or her hand to recognize any anomalies. When combined with the regular use of an air gauge and a visual check of his tires, the chances of preventing potential tire failures before they happen are greatly increased.
Also, the tires will have a much greater chance of making it to the end of their first useful life and will be better candidates for retreading, which can help to maximize the savings a trucker can get from his tires during their life cycles.