Tyre problems...big and small

I regularly find myself on minesites with work, and for the last 2 years during the mining boom, haul truck tyres have been in short supply. In fact, Caterpillar and others don't currently sell new haul trucks with tyres fitted. The companies must source their own. Naturally tyre maintenance is now a very high priority. Individual operations within large mining houses (eg BHP) are allocated tyres according to which sites look after them best. If they have short tyre life, they are at the bottom of the list.

To encourage staff to look after tyres better, some sites offer tyre bonuses. I know of one operation that has locked haul truck transmissions out of top gear! Only the first 5 gears available! Pretty extraordinary stuff, when there's a race for maximum production!

I also came across a firm of contract fitters, who had a problem with a well known 4x4 tyre (which doesn't have a good reputation in Central Qld, from what people tell me) blowing out, and causing some $30,000 damage to a Patrol ute with tradesman body. The tyre company looked after them very well, and have supplied free tyres far exceeding that value for their fleet to date. It's good to see suppliers look after their customers properly. I'd hope they'd do the same for smaller customers, too.

I was also a bit surprised when the fitter I was with told me that his work Patrol had done 56,000kms and was due for its second replacement suspension. It was looked after pretty well, but the trade body adds a lot of weight, and then the gear, parts and tools that go into the back add a lot more weight. It certainly wasn't abused.

Cheers