Just Limp On In

A Frequent Cause of Tire Debris (Road 'Gators) on our Highways   When a truck develops a tire problem on a dual wheel position, the driver may have the option of stopping on the highway or continuing in to the nearest exit or truck stop to have the tire repaired. Sometimes continuing is unavoidable, especially if stopping on the highway would be an extreme safety hazard, for instance the highway has no shoulder or is a curved road with blind spots. When the driver cannot stop on the highway the tire which has the problem will often overheat and disintegrate before the truck is able to get to a safe place to stop. The result is a "road 'gator" or tire debris on the highway. In addition to the tire which comes apart, the other tire on the dual wheel position will often be damaged and be unfit for further safe use. People in the trucking and tire industries agree that this is a serious safety problem not only for the truck with the damaged tire, but also for other motorists on the highway who might be hit with a piece of tire debris flying off the damaged tire. What many motorists don't realize is that very often the tire debris they see on our highways might have come from a tire that was never retreaded. Tires that are run underinflated, overloaded or mismatched on dual wheel positions will fail given enough time, and it doesn't matter if the tire is virgin or a retread. Although there will probably always be tire debris on our highways, truckers and other motorists can greatly help to reduce the problem by regularly checking the air pressure in their tires with a properly calibrated tire gauge, and by visually checking their tires for deformations, cracks and other signs that the tire might be getting ready to fail. By spending a few minutes checking their tires daily, truckers can greatly reduce tire problems which translates to fewer road 'gators and important cost savings for their fleets. Tires are the third largest cost of running any fleet of trucks, right after drivers and fuel. Anything that can be done to reduce tire problems will pay for itself over and over. A few minutes daily can prevent most "just limp on in" situations. For a FREE video titled, PRE-TRIP INSPECTION TO MAXIMIZE TIRE PERFORMANCE, see Videos Available from TRIB.

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