Check the gauges, not only the tires
Every fleet tire program depends on pressure checks, and every pressure check depends on a gauge. Gauges are rarely checked themselves.
A pencil gauge that has been dropped a few times, a dial gauge that lives in a hot cab, a gauge built into an inflation line at the yard: any of them can drift and read a few pounds off. Nobody notices, because every tire checked with that gauge appears to be at the right pressure.
The result is a fleet running consistently under or over inflated while its records say everything is fine. Under-inflation in particular is one of the main causes of heat damage and early failure in commercial tires, and a gauge reading high hides it completely.
A simple routine
Know how many gauges you have and where they are. Every truck, every shop, every inflation station.
Compare them against a reference. A gauge known to be accurate, kept for that purpose and not carried around. Any gauge that disagrees by more than a pound or two gets replaced.
Do it on a schedule, once a quarter or so, and whenever a gauge is dropped or damaged.
Check cold. Compare the gauges on tires that have not been driven, so the readings are not changing as you take them.
How the account helps
A fleet account here records work by unit and position, which is where a gauge problem tends to show up first: a run of heat-related failures across trucks that share a yard. Ask the store to look for that pattern.
Behind the account are OTR services, retreading through Purcell's program, balancing and wheel refurbishing. Alignment and vehicle repair are at Tucson.
Other fleet stores nearby
Tucson and Casa Grande also run fleet accounts.
About this store
The Willcox store carries all nine Purcell tire categories, opens at 7:00 AM, Monday to Friday, closes at 5:00 PM, and is managed by Mark Laster.
See the national fleet services page for the other 48 locations.