As part of your daily vehicle inspection, do you thoroughly check your tires? During 2018 over 197,000 tire violations were found during roadside inspections and most of the violations carry 8 points under Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA). These violations are severity and time weighted, which negatively impact a motor carrier and a driver’s CSA score. Listed below are some helpful tire safety tips:
- Tire Inspection: Examine your tires every day for irregular tread wear, cracks, cuts, bulges, etc.
- Inflation Pressure: Improper inflation pressure affects tire wear and fuel efficiency.
- Rims: Only use approved tire/rim combinations of the appropriate width and diameter.
- Extreme Loading: Overloading or under-inflation causes excessive heat build-up and internal structural damage that can lead to a tire failure.
- Speed: Do not exceed your tires speed rating (doing so will damage your tires and can lead to premature tire failure).