What made such a big improvement in your tire life?

Eugene Howard, director of maintenance: "A lot of things, done a little at a time. We'd do just one thing ­ and we kept at it ­ until it became a part of our routine. Once we got that mastered, we'd move on to the next thing."

For example?

"Air pressure maintenance. We check the inflation in every tire at least once a month, sometimes as often as once a week or more. We use double-seal, flow-through valve stem caps, because you don't have to remove them to check inflation or add air, and they keep dirt and water out of valve stems.

"When we mount tires, we check the valve stem washer, and the torque on the valve stem mounting nut. Those washers can go bad, and if the nut isn't properly torqued, you can end up with leaks."

To prevent leaks, Howard Trucking regularly checks valve stem washers and the torque on valve stem securing nuts.

Do drivers check inflation pressure?

"Many of them do, and some of them do it twice a week. If they'll use them, we're always happy to give drivers pressure gauges to carry in the cab."

You mentioned mounting. Do you do anything
special there?

"Whenever we get a new piece of equipment, one of the first things we do is demount, inspect, lubricate and remount every tire. That way we can make sure the wheels are properly lubricated, so that the beads seat and seal properly. We also check to make sure every mount is concentric. Then we balance every tire before re-installing it on the tractor or trailer."

What else do you do to extend tire life?

"A few years back, we took an old mud flap, cut it to the shape of a fifth wheel, and experimented with using that instead of grease. I guess we should have patented the idea, because now we're buying Teflon^® plates that do the same thing.

"Ordinary fifth wheel lube gets wiped off or washed off, and eventually, the king pin can't turn freely. That puts stress on the tires, almost as if the axles were out of alignment. And that accelerates tire wear."

Any other tips?

"Actually, one came from your own magazine, Real Answers.^* One of our dealers, Mark Scott, of J&B Tires, brought us an article you ran about moving M726 drive tires back to trailers when they hit 10 to 12/32nds remaining tread depth. We tried it, and we're getting a lot more miles out of our drive tires before we send them for retreading. That's like money in the bank."

How do you know all this is working?

"We keep records on every tire, from the time we first receive it until we scrap it. We brand every tire with a unique number, and my brother Danny has developed a computer program we use to keep track of all our tires."

Every one of Howard Trucking's tires is branded, so its performance, both new and when retreaded, can be tracked from the day it's delivered until the day it's scrapped.

Danny, how is your tire program going?

Danny Howard, CEO: "We used to get 75,000 to 85,000 miles from our steer tires. Today, using exactly the same tires, we can count on anything from 130,000 to 200,000 miles from them. We had one steer tire that went almost 242,000 miles, and our drive tires average nearly 400,000 miles.

"Overall, our records show that we've had about a 60 to 80 percent improvement in tire life as a result of maintenance improvements, and we can count on about 2 or 3 retreads from our Bridgestone casings."

Danny Howard, CEO of Howard Trucking, has developed computer programs to track the performance improvements resulting from the company's maintenance program.

What's the key factor in successful tire maintenance?

Eugene Howard: "You can't do just one thing, like balance or alignment. You have to do everything. And, you have to build your maintenance program gradually. If you try to start doing everything tomorrow morning, you'll give up by tomorrow afternoon ­ because there aren't enough hours in the day.

"As I said before, master one thing, make it routine, then move on to the next. Then, keep doing what you've been doing. It's a team effort. There are no unimportant jobs, and there are no unimportant team members. Good maintenance will pay off, if everybody does their part."