Purcell Tire & Service in De Soto, MO

Two of the most unusual Purcell locations are nearby. Potosi, the retread plant at the company's founding address, and Mineral Point, the only central distribution and fleet support center in the company.

For a customer here, that proximity shows up in two practical ways. Casings collected at this store have a short journey to the plant, and tire stock across all nine categories sits close by rather than several states away.

The same handful of things account for most avoidable inspection failures, and all of them can be checked in a driveway:

• Every light, including the plate light and both brake lights.
• Wiper blades, and whether the washer bottle has anything in it.
• Tires: tread, obvious damage, anything worn to the cords.
• Horn, mirrors and seat belts.
• Warning lights on the dash, particularly a check engine light.

If anything has been squealing or grinding, have the brakes looked at before the inspection rather than during it. The advantage of a store that also repairs vehicles is that a failure does not mean finding somewhere else.

All nine Purcell categories are carried, which in this part of Missouri is less of a boast than a necessity. Agricultural tires for the farm machinery, OTR and industrial tires for the equipment working the ground, commercial and trailer tires for the trucks, and the light vehicle categories for everyone else.

Stock is not the same as range, so call with the size from the sidewall before you plan a change. The store can tell you what is on the shelf and what it can get, and with Mineral Point holding central distribution stock nearby, the answer is usually quicker here than it would be at the far end of the network.