Trucking Woes…blew A Tire

I’m sitting here on the side of I25 right now waiting for a repair because I ran over something in the road and it blew one of my trailer tires. Couldn’t avoid whatever it was and it looked pretty flat but I guess it wasn’t. This is only the second tire I’ve ever blown and the first one was seemingly completely random.

I’m really just irritated because this screwed up my day today and Monday. We’re not super busy on Monday and I had literally JUST gotten off the phone with my dispatcher not even five minutes earlier. We were going over the plan for Monday and we had it all figured out to where he was going to give me a super full day on Monday despite us being slower that day and I was going to get a load done today and preload for Monday. And then this happens. Now I’m just taking this preload back to the yard 10 minutes away, where I just left, and delivering it on Monday morning at 7 am therefore missing out on a load today and most likely having fewer loads on Monday.

It’s just trucking… Gotta look at the bright side that I get the rest of the day off today. I think I might be pushing myself too much lately too. I don’t feel tired but I’ve noticed I’ve been pushing really hard lately to do more loads and be faster and so forth and I tend to get myself into trouble when I start doing that. Have you guys noticed that trend as well or is it just me? Specifically, you get so focused on making more money and getting more loads in that you start to make mistakes or bad choices?

I’ll take the forced day off because I probably need it to get my mind off trucking for a couple days before getting back in the grind on Monday.

Anyways, here’s a pic of the tire:

And if I may make this a small teaching moment.. anytime you blow a tire ALWAYS check for other damage. In both instances for me the blown tire has caused collateral damage to my equipment. In this case the damage wasn’t immediately obvious:

It’s hard to tell at first glance but the fender bracket is damaged and bent out of the way. This is what it’s supposed to look like:

The fender and bracket are still sufficiently secure so I will make this delivery in Denver on Monday and then drop this trailer at the shop afterward for repair.

When the trailer tire blew how did you know it? Did you hear it blow? Did the vehicle start handling differently?

I haven’t experienced a tire blowout except on my car. So just wondering.

When the trailer tire blew how did you know it? Did you hear it blow? Did the vehicle start handling differently?

I haven’t experienced a tire blowout except on my car. So just wondering.

Great question. I was already looking in my mirrors to see if the object I ran over caused any issues. I saw some dust initially and then little pieces of rubber started flying behind my trailer. I was in the middle lane and slowed down and got in the right lane right away and took the shoulder about a quarter mile later after the guard rail ended so I was able to prevent the tire completely shredding on me. I didn’t hear it blow.

Doesn’t sound like you made any mistake here, just something that happens randomly. Actually, for me, the more I drive the more focused I seem to be, as long as I get enough sleep. Very important.

I had a trailer tire blow out two weeks ago. I just noticed something different in the mirror and another driver came up beside me and honked and gestured, so I pulled over right away. Fortunately for me, there was a full service truck repair business just 1&1/2 mile away. I went there and was back on the road 2 hours later. The tire service person was a girl. She also does the tire road service for the shop. First time I’ve ever seen a girl doing that job. Kudos to her. I was very polite to her because I’m sure she could have kicked my butt if I got out of line.

Ive lost a few trailer tires, a few drives and a steer. Many of our trailers are not well taken care of, and we have very old ones as well as we run recaps. In addition, we have a very large trailer pool. Also, we loose money and bonus when we repair them unless you know how to negotiate to get good breakdown pay and miles added, so many drivers wont bother to get repairs done if they dont have and drop the trailers off only to impact the next driver.

Most of the trailer tires Ive lost, I could hear the blowout, but some not. I also check my mirrors religiously so Id usually catch them. The drives are the same. The steer tire, I just heard really bad hissing and air loss. I was in the Springs on I 25 late at night. I thought I lost my red line to the trailer so I pulled off immediately. I was lucky it didnt blow out, but it was flat and off the rim by that point already. Turned out there was a huge nail in it, most likely from the shipper I had been at.

With the steers, they changed out both to new ones, because they have to be the same wear and depth and manufacturer. I usually try to get as many of the drives replaced before winter as I can. Meaning, if they replace one, they have to do the corresponding bud wheel and at least the other side too because they cant have differing sizes on it. They they have to make sure the primary drive axel are as new or newer than the secondary because if not, they can potentially not have as much contact and therefore traction. I prefer not to come into winter with bald tires with sypes gone. 3/32 tread is hardly sufficient in adverse weather.

In any case, I know the feeling that maybe I didnt catch something in pre trip and am responsible for the blowout, but if you did your pre trip well, its still often unavoidable getting a blow out or flat depending on where you take your truck, the condition and type of tires you run.

In 5 years I've had 2 trailer tires blow. One in the middle of the night going down 35 to KC. The only reason I knew something was wrong was shortly after I passed a CRST truck they slowed WAY down and the inflation light above my thermoking light came on. For those unaware some fleets run an inflation system that uses allows your air system to inflate tires to the proper amount. There's a light that illuminates when your tires are filling up or leaking air. If it stays on more than a few minutes it means there's an issue somewhere.

The first trailer tire I had blow I'm embarrassed about and lucky it didn't end up worse. I was still in my first year at PFG and during my pretrip noticed a very small bulge in the side the tire. I had a long day ahead and Ryder (where we parked out trucks) wouldn't be in for another 3 hours. I opted to run it since I was staying in town and would drive less than 100 miles. Trailer tire lasted all day. Well, almost. I was just about done unloading at my last stop when I heard a LOUD boom that scared the absolute crap out of everyone in the area. Fortunately nobody was close enough to get hit by any shrapnel. It took a little over an hour if I remember correctly to get it changed out in that restaurant parking lot and I remember walking around picking up the pieces I could find. I'm amazed at how far it went. Ever since then I've been much more diligent about tires due to the damage one blowing can cause.

If you blow a steer I know you're supposed to stay off the brakes, grip the wheel and coast to a stop. But what would be the best course of action if that happened while coming down a mountain?

If you blow a steer I know you're supposed to stay off the brakes, grip the wheel and coast to a stop. But what would be the best course of action if that happened while coming down a mountain?

I was on level ground on I-70 in Missouri, and had about 30K in the wagon. I immediately hit the 4-way flashers, then the throttle. In my mind the first thing screaming at me was don't hit anything on my left, get control, and don't touch the brake pedal. I was in the right of two lanes, and only drifted into the left lane for maybe three feet. With all the debris and parts in my wake, everyone behind backed off very far and very quickly. I engaged the Jake brakes at the second level, then lightly (25 PSI) applied the brake pedal once I was below 25 MPH, safely stopping on the paved righthand shoulder and grass. I would do everything the same on any highway and any grade. The only situation that may differ would be increasing speed with no brakes, take the runaway truck ramp if one is available. The biggest thing is to control the vehicle with very small inputs of the steering and brakes and to stay upright.

I was thinking the engine brake would still be a viable option so thanks for confirming that.

I immediately hit the 4-way flashers, then the throttle.

Can you please explain why you hit the throttle?

I slowed down rapidly when the wheel starting digging in, leaning forward and left, and could have pulled into a jackknife. Max throttle kept me moving, helped lift some weight due to the engine torque, and bought time to gain control. The Jake brake will work despite any brake line damage.