The Fleet Business Authority
Issue link: http://heavydutytrucking.epubxp.com/i/236631
Tires&Wheels; Keeping your wheels in the game PHOTO BY JIM PARK Pictures are worth a thousand words, they say. What sort of message do the wheels on this trailer convey about its owner? Steel truck wheels can be refinished for about a quarter of the cost of new wheels, adding many years to the wheel's life expectancy b Back in 1984, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a regulation requiring that truck wheels be stripped of rust and debris before mounting a tire. Easier said than done, the industry moaned at the time. Labor was less costly then, but wire brushes and elbow grease weren't going to cut it. Two years later, International Marketing Inc. brought to market its Series 2010 Wheel/Rim Refinishing System, a fast and cost-effective technology that allowed fleets and tire dealers to meet the OSHA requirements more efficiently. IMI installed its first system at a Goodyear Truck Tire center in Brunswick, Ohio, and invited representatives from the three biggest LTL fleets in the country at the time – Yellow Freight, Consolidated Freightways and Roadway – to drop by. "It was unique at the time, and it really opened up some service opportunities for the tire dealers and service centers," says Jeff Redding, National Equipment and Coatings manager at commodity of sorts over the years, and fleets often complain about the quality of the work from various vendors, even though the process costs a fraction of the price of a new wheel. Cost ranges with volume, account "I'm not sure how many, but I know we still have some wheels in service that date back to 1993 when we started doing our own refinishing." – Chris Folweiler, Wilson Trucking IMI. "Safety is what drove it. Today, with CSA and all the added scrutiny from the DOT, fleets want to avoid throwing up any red flags during an inspection – and bad wheels really draw a lot of attention." Wheel refinishing has become a bundling and a host of other factors, but fleets can pay anywhere from $20 to $35 per wheel for shot blasting, inspection and new powder coat. Compare that to somewhere between $85 and $100 for a brand new steel wheel. Chris Folweiler, the tire shop fore- Jim Park • Equipment Editor 50 HDT • JANUARY 2014 www.truckinginfo.com