Underinflated Tires Will Reduce Tread Life Up To 25 Percent

Want to get the most value out of one of your biggest operating expenses? It's simple -- check the air pressure in your tires weekly.

The reason that tire air pressure maintenance is talked about so much in the tire and trucking business is because it’s so important to tire longevity. Fuel and tires are two of the biggest expenses for fleets and owner operators. If you are not maintaining your tires at the proper air pressures, you're leaving serious dollars on the table.

What determines the correct amount of air required in your tires is the load which you are carrying and the speed in which you are traveling -- bottom line! Your local tire dealer can assist you with this. At Double Coin, we have an extensive network of dealers across North America who provide tire maintenance advice to fleet owners/managers, trucking fleet safety managers and owner operators.

Always use a high-quality, accurate tire gauge and check your tires at a minimum of once a week.  And always when they are cold. The days of using a tire club or stick are long gone and were really never an accurate way to tell how much air you have in a tire.

Tires such as the Double Coin RR300 (pictured below) are highly-advanced products featuring the latest technologies in compounding, tread design and construction. With the correct air inflation, they perform as they were designed with the tread contact patch or footprint (part of tread that touches the pavement) being where the designers intended.  The correct footprint provides optimum traction, and durability is dramatically increased.

In fact, industry research reveals that underinflated tires will reduce tread life up to 25 percent. Underinflated tires build up heat. Heat is the number #1 enemy of tires, affecting the tire's rolling resistance which leads to reduced fuel economy. And, of course, too much heat can lead to tire failure and downtime, which takes more money out of your pocket.

Overinflated tires are also detrimental to tire performance and your bottom line. They are more susceptible to road hazards such as impact breaks. The contact patch/footprint is also distorted with an overinflated tire, leading to irregular wear characterized by center rib wear or rib punch wear.

Also, always remember to inspect your valve stems, cores and caps when checking your tires. 

Yes, it takes a little time each week to properly check your tires. But the payoff is substantial in terms of increasing the life of your tires, improving fuel economy, ensuring optimum tire performance, and reducing downtime due to tire failures. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

We encourage you to contact your local Double Coin dealer for more information about best practices in tire maintenance or leave me a message below and I will be glad to reach out to you.