Nov 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Unless a fleet wants to pick tires based on gut feelings, intuition, or data gathered by other fleets, a record-keeping system to track tire performance and costs is vital to making wise tire decisions. A good record-keeping system, whether on paper or on computer software, is one that will store all the data needed to determine the actual costs associated with a fleet's tires.

While most of the initial costs in a tire-tracking program are obvious-new tires, casings and retreads, and repair materials — other related costs must be accounted for, says Tim Miller, Goodyear's commercial tire marketing communications manager. Those costs include labor related to tire management and repairs, tire replacement costs, the cost of downtime associated with tire issues that occur, and warranty credits for new tires, and retread and repair warrantable conditions.

“TMC (Technology and Maintenance Council) has a great Recommended Practice, RP 208, which details all the essential parameters to measure in order to accurately analyze tire related costs,” Miller says. “It's something we highly recommend fleets follow.”

TMC's Recommended Practices Manual can be purchased via the web at:

http://www.truckline.com/store/product.asp?id=146&cat=)

For fleets that manage a handful of vehicles, there is nothing wrong with keeping paper records of tire costs, says Miller. But as the number of vehicles in a fleet increases, the complexity of keeping records becomes more difficult. “Someone needs to be proficient in spreadsheet analysis in order to record all the data and make the calculations needed to determine the total costs and, even more important, the cost per mile of every tire in the fleet.”

An easier way is to invest in software programs, he says, and several tire-specific software packages are available that can aid in generating better information. By way of example, Goodyear has its TVTRACK and TireValuCalc programs.

Tire cpm

With TVTRACK, information is entered for each vehicle, with mileage recorded when new tires, or retreads, are installed. Costs associated with these tires also are documented, along with tread wear, which is measured and entered into the program when tires are 25 percent, 50 percent, and 75 percent worn, and when they are removed from service. Cost-per-mile (cpm) can be calculated and shown graphically at any time by brand or tire type.