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Tire/Wheel Management Program
Why it is necessary…
A tire/wheel management program is necessary to help control the highest single maintenance cost in any fleet operation.
What it should do…
- A tire/wheel management program first and foremost has to track tires from "the cradle to the
grave". In other words, from the time the tire is purchased either on new equipment or for
replacement purposes, until it is finally laid to rest through recycling or other means of disposal.
- A tire/wheel management program has to handle any size fleet and vehicle configuration.
- A tire/wheel management program has to accommodate the different thoughts on how to handle tire
costing, wheel maintenance, alignment and its effect on tire wear, and casing management.
- A tire/wheel management program has to integrate retreading and regrooving into the process of
tracking cost.
- A tire/wheel management program must be able to take advantage of new technology such as, chips
in tires or bar coding, in identifying and tracking tires both on and off a vehicle.
- A tire/wheel management program must be proactive and predictive when notifying network
connected managers of unsatisfactory tire events.
- A tire/wheel management program must interface necessary information to other programs that rely
on equipment uptime to complete a task.
How to accomplish it...
There are several different ways to accomplish a successful tire/wheel management program. Three of the most popular approaches are listed below.
- Do it all in house and purchase tires at the best price you can negotiate from vendors.
- Farm out the tire labor to a tire dealer and negotiate tire prices from your best source.
- Do a tire mounted program with a reliable company that can provide both new tires and retreads
along with tire repair, wheel refurbish, scrap analysis, and tire adjustment.
Monitoring and using the results that shows up...
A successful tire/wheel management program is only as good as the information gathered and assimilated.
If you do not have the resources or desire to gather the information on tire performance then a tire
mounted program is probably a better choice. Most companies that offer a tire mounted program have
expertise available, either in-house or through maintenance management firms, to help interpret the data gathered.
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