Safer tires safer logistics

Unlike cars however a key contributor to forklift safety often remains overlooked and misunderstood – tires. Everyone knows that tire safety for cars and other road vehicles is linked to tread depth; whether you use a tread gauge or a coin to measure it tire life is directly related to tread depth. Equally everybody knows, or at least should know, that tires without sufficient tread will cause your vehicle to fail its MOT test and can result in penalty points on your driving license. It then doesn’t come as a huge surprise that this logic is then applied by busy warehouse, logistics or fleet managers to every vehicle under their control including forklifts. What should come as a surprise is the consequence of doing just that.

Simply put for solid forklift tires tread depth has nothing to do with tire life. When the tread pattern completely disappears from a solid tire it is only around 50% worn. According to the European Tire and Rim Technical organization, the umbrella group for the European tire industry, solid tires are safe to use until wear reaches the base of the tread itself which is usually marked on the side wall as either the “wear limit” or “60J line”. 

Research shows that on average solid forklift tires are replaced with around 25% useable life remaining which equates to several hundred hours of actual life or around 3 months usage of a typical truck. Very often these tires are being replaced at the insistence of Health & Safety inspectors or insurance assessors who are as unaware of the correct method of assessment as most users. This can in turn lead to the perception that cheaper tires provide the same value as premium products and the risk that budget tires get fitted to forklifts in applications where only a quality product can deliver user safety.

This becomes significant very quickly – a forklift in constant use in a busy logistics operation will generate a huge amount of friction in its tires which leads to heat buildup causing tires to fail immediately putting operators, machines and loads at risk or serious harm. Premium tires are built to withstand exactly this scenario through their design, construction and the choice of compounding made. In the same way that you wouldn’t fit a high performance car with a budget tire you shouldn’t do the same for a forklift in heavy use. The speed may be slower but the effects are largely the same.

The same research also shows that around 2% of tires are replaced too late – in the context of the UK forklift fleet that’s thousands of machines and drivers being put at risk. Once a solid tire has worn past the wear limit the risk of serious injury or damage is very real; the centre of a solid tire is typically a very soft rubber compound that offers no grip and is not designed to be driven on meaning that a forklift will be very difficult to control.

To simplify safety for solid forklift tires Trelleborg Wheel Systems recently launched the Pit Stop Line feature in its premium range tires – when a tire has worn down to having around 100 hours life left a bright orange line appears on its surface meaning that users, warehouse managers, HSAW inspectors and insurance assessors will be able to tell at a glance if a forklift is tire safe. A simple solution to a simple problem.

Trelleborg have engaged with representatives of stakeholders across the logistics industry to push the message of tire safety through choosing premium products from leading manufacturers and believe that the innovative Pit Stop Line feature will go a long way to reinforcing the message around industrial tire safety and how it contributes to overall site safety. What is clear that it is only through this type of multi party engagement combined with innovation that the logistics industry globally will reach its goal of safer logistics.