Abrasions On Steer Sidewall--how Bad Is It?

I found this on my driver side steer tonight. Is this ok to drive with?

I literally have no idea how this got there. I don't remember curbing anything today and the three backs I did today weren't even around curbs, so it's not even possible that I curbed it while backing. This definitely wasn't there during my post trip last night or my pretrip this morning either. Could this have happened on the highway somehow?? I did drive through some really heavy rain in Memphis today, so maybe I ran over something I couldn't see??

When were you in Memphis? It wasn't raining when we went through this morning.

Sorry, off topic. Just curious!

When were you in Memphis? It wasn't raining when we went through this morning.

Sorry, off topic. Just curious!

I went through this afternoon. It was raining cats and dogs!!

Memphis is just a BLAST when it rains! Especially on 40 with all those sharp curves and crazy 4-wheelers.

Ooh yeah. I took the 55 to 240--same difference, it was fun.

Looks like it was some type of debris as it looks gouged narrowly and deep along with that abrasion.

I found this on my driver side steer tonight. Is this ok to drive with?

I literally have no idea how this got there. I don't remember curbing anything today and the three backs I did today weren't even around curbs, so it's not even possible that I curbed it while backing. This definitely wasn't there during my post trip last night or my pretrip this morning either. Could this have happened on the highway somehow?? I did drive through some really heavy rain in Memphis today, so maybe I ran over something I couldn't see??

This shouldn't be chargeable to you. (You are a company driver, right?) Stop at the shop at your company's terminal.

I was out of town (Memphis) today. I came back late, but never saw any evidence of rain in the Memphis area.

Sno-boy says:

Looks like it was some type of debris as it looks gouged narrowly and deep along with that abrasion.

That's what I was thinking too. My coworker thinks someone rubbed it while I was away from the truck. Now that I look at it, I think he's right. That's exactly the kind of circular motion and gouging a lug nut on a rotating tire would make. Unfortunately I don't have it on video because my camera already wrote over the old file.

Errol says:

This shouldn't be chargeable to you. (You are a company driver, right?) Stop at the shop at your company's terminal.

Correct, I'm a company driver so no charges for me to worry about. I just feel bad about it. I feel a little better now that I realize it probably wasn't me that did it, but I still don't like costing the company money. And frankly, no one there knows me well enough yet to know how honest I am. They're not the accusatory type here, but it still looks bad (know what I mean?).

Pianoman is a stand-up guy:

but I still don't like costing the company money.

I'm with you there. But do you see all those tires stacked around the shop? Swapping tires is a trucking fact of life.

I would get that tire off there for sure. Weakening the sidewall like that makes it totally unpredictable. You might get another 50,000 miles out of it or it might blow at any moment. You can't tell from the outside how much structural damage was done to the tire.

Call the shop and describe the damage. Make sure they let you put a new one on. If by chance they tell you to keep driving on it, email them a picture of it and tell them you'd like them to have a look for themselves and then respond to the email with their recommendation.

Personally I wouldn't drive on it past the next truck stop. Not a steer tire. If the company insists you keep driving on it, make sure they put that in writing. Companies will say almost anything over the phone, but once they have to commit to something in writing they know it's a different ballgame.

If it was a drive tire or trailer tire, not a big deal. Steer tire? Very big deal.