Too Fast for Your Tires?

 

Is there a speed limit for truck tires? Are truckers wantonly violating those limits and putting the safety of the motoring public at risk? If you read a recent Associated Press story titled “Big Rigs Often Go Faster than Tires Can Handle,” you might come to that conclusion. And while there is some truth to the story, it underplays a critical point related to truck speeds and tires: inflation pressure. As the weather heats up so do the roads and, so do the tires, then add speed to the equation and this only increases the problem. Do these elevated speed limits really pose a tire-related threat to safety? You can almost hear the pencils scratching away on yellow legal pads around the country. It could be fertile ground for the ambulance chasers. Yes, there is some legitimate concern that high speeds can create safety issues for truck tires. But know this: It’s not the tire per se that is the problem – it’s the maintenance of the tire, namely how rigorously its inflation pressure is maintained. We would like to remind our drivers here at Service Transportation to take a little extra time during their pre-trip to make sure all tires are properly inflated.

Gerry Sullivan