How about a video?

Glad you asked. Bridgestone’s Saving Through Scrap Tire Analysis video is available through your Bridgestone representative, or you can request a copy directly using the card we’ve bound into this issue of Real Answers.

You can even view or download the video from our web site, www.trucktires.com. There’s also a link to the RealPlayer™ software you can download for viewing this and all our instructional videos.

Saving Through Scrap Tire Analysis is available in both English and Spanish, and offers a close look at many of the most common scrap tire conditions. It’s very useful for group meetings and as a way to spark discussion.

Any other resources?

Some very good ones: Your Bridgestone representatives and field engineers. Feel free to call on them for help in understanding your scrap tires. You can even arrange for them to provide a scrap tire clinic at your location, so you and your staff can get “hands-on” experience in scrap analysis. You’ll gain valuable experience, and benefit from theirs.

What’s next?

This part we call “review.” Review your own scrap, preferably together with your Bridgestone representative.Try to study every tire as soon as it comes out of service.

Compare what you see, feel and smell with the descriptions in the video and TMC guide.

Why not wait until we’ve accumulated a bunch of tires?

Because some of these “scrap” tires might not be scrap when first pulled out of service. If you examine them carefully, you may find that they’re repairable or retreadable.

If you let them sit in the scrap pile, you give rust a chance to set in, and over time, a tire that had some useful life left in it might become truly “scrap.”

What’s the best way to examine scrap?

As our video suggests, examine the whole tire, inside and out, even if you think you know what caused the problem. You may be surprised at what you discover. Use a flashlight to examine the innerliner. Feel the tire, press and squeeze it. Your hands may “see” something your eyes cannot. And go ahead and smell the tire too. Do you detect the telltale scent of fuel or antifreeze, or can you smell the effects of excessive heat?

Try not to jump to conclusions. Your first assumption could be wrong. Compare what you observe with the suggestions in the video and the TMC guide. Consider all the possible causes for the damage you observe.

Ask questions of your Bridgestone representatives. Draw on their experience to supplement your own.

And what do we do with all these observations?

That’s the last of our “Three R’s,” “Reports.” The best thing is to record your observations on a standard form, like the one we’ve reproduced here. You can tear this one out and photocopy it, or download a “pdf” version at our web site, www.trucktires.com.

Save these report forms. Over time, they’ll become a valuable history book and a very valuable guide to reducing the amount of scrap you have.

How can doing all this reduce our scrap?

Using the forms for your scrap tire reports imposes a discipline that will net valuable information for you and your Bridgestone representative.

You’ll be able to tell what tire brands and models seem to have the most problems. You’ll be able to determine whether you lose tires mostly from punctures, wearout or sidewall damage.

And, you’ll have records of DOT numbers, repairs, number of times retreaded. You may even have good data to help you determine whether you should change brands, models or retreaders.

As you acquire more knowledge about what sends your tires to the scrap pile, you may be able to take countermeasures.

Just click on the Real Answers link on the home page, then on Volume 4, Issue 4, and the article titled “By Popular Demand: Scrap Tire Analysis, Part 1.”

The more you learn, and the more you act on what you’ve learned, the smaller your scrap pile is likely to be.