A TMC survey shows that, when it comes to measuring the success of low-rolling resistance tires, the perception may be far from the truth.
Rodney Dangerfield used to say that he “don’t get no respect.” The same may be true for today’s fuel-efficient tires. An article in TruckingInfo.com, “TMC Survey Reveals Misinformed View of Fuel-Efficient Tires,” shows that many fleets may have these misconceptions based on their own maintenance practices.
According to Peggy Fisher, President of Tire Stamp, “Among other things, the survey showed that a sizeable number of fleets (29%) do not know what their fuel economy is — which is very odd in this day and age. Therefore, it is not surprising that they didn’t know they are getting better tread mileage on low-rolling-resistance tires than non-low rolling resistance tires. Only the trailer tires were reported as getting less tread mileage, and it just so happens that we all know that trailer tires are the worst maintained in the fleet.”
Past studies have shown that, of all maintenance practices, tire maintenance is the least strict. Since there’s a direct correlation between tire life and tire maintenance, bad or poor maintenance will result in a shortened tire life. And that’s true for low-rolling resistance and standard tires as well. But before the truth can be known, fleets have to realistically measure fuel efficiency.
To see all of the details of this survey, read the full article here.
