Managing Tire repair emergencies
In the rush to get a truck rolling again, it's easy to pay more than you should for a tire repair, new tire or emergency service.
Behind labor and fuel, tires are a fleet's biggest expense. And the smaller your fleet is, the more you pay. A few years ago, a survey of HDT readers found that fleets with five to nine vehicles averaged more than $2,000 per vehicle in annual tire expenses, while fleets with 500 or more vehicles averaged only $670.
One area where you may be able to trim some of those costs is in emergency tire repairs on the road. In the rush to get a truck rolling again, it's easy to pay more than you should for a tire repair, new tire or emergency service.
Large fleets have traditionally been able to get discounted tires and special services on the road through their "national accounts" with tire companies. But in recent years, some companies have started offering money- and time-saving options for smaller fleets, as well.
You can expect to pay $25 to $35 per incident for emergency roadside service dispatch with these services, which could more than pay for itself with savings on tires, getting the tire fixed right the first time, or avoiding late delivery penalties from customers.
Bandag
Bandag's ETA program (Emergency Tire Assistance) handled more than 65,000 breakdowns in 2002, with an average roll time of just over two hours.
When a customer calls (800) 8-BANDAG, dispatchers at ETA locate the service provider closest to them. The service focuses on its network of 1,600 Bandag dealers, but will go outside the dealer network if needed. If necessary, customers can be tied in with the service provider on a three-way conversation to make sure communications are clear. After the service takes place, Bandag sets up billing arrangements and closes out the call.
An "ETA spec tire" provides a quality standard for tires purchased through the program. And if a Bandag retread purchased through the ETA program fails within the first 60 days, you'll get a complete refund.
Bandag ETA will also help customers with non-tire problems through a network of independent service providers, some of which are Bandag dealers.
Any Bandag customer can use the service, which provides set pricing levels while on the road. You may be able to have your Bandag dealer set you up as a "preferred customer," in which case all the billing would be handled through your dealer. Other customers would be billed directly by Bandag. Gary Schulte, product manager, emphasizes that there's no discrimination between different kinds of customers. A one-truck owner-operator gets the same ETA service as a driver for a 1,000-truck fleet. "We enjoy a really strong working relationship with our customers," he says, "even to the point where drivers for a fleet who are leaving or retiring will call and tell us how great it's been working with us."
Customers are encouraged to enroll with the ETA service before they need it, so information about you and your preferences can be entered in the system. However, you don't have to pre-enroll to use the service; it will just take longer when you call for the first time needing emergency roadside service.
"The more information we have on file on that fleet as far as their preferences, who their contact people are, their preferences for tires in different locations (steer, drive, trailer), limits on what they want to spend on a breakdown, that facilitates the call going much quicker," Schulte says.
For more information, contact your Bandag dealer or call (800) 822-6324.
BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE
Bridgestone/Firestone has several programs that can work together to help save you money on the road.
Large fleets that are national accounts are part of the National Fleet program. But smaller fleets that don't qualify for national accounts can sign up for the National Preferred program, which offers tires at predetermined, published prices from any authorized Bridgestone or Firestone dealer or truckstop.
When they need service, drivers identify themselves as National Fleet or National Preferred customers (an ID card with instructions is provided). The dealer verifies their enrollment and delivers the tires and service at a set price, plus a $5 transaction fee for National Preferred transactions. Both tires and labor rates are set. Labor rates for National Preferred fleets are identical to those for National Fleet accounts.
"It's very attractive for a small or medium-size fleet, rather than having to play 'Let's Make a Deal' in an emergency environment," says Dave Kolasinsky, manager of truck tire marketing.
The biggest difference between National Fleet accounts and National Preferred, he says, is that national accounts are actually extended a line of credit by Bridgestone/Firestone. For National Preferred fleets, Bridgestone/Firestone can set a customer up with the program's outsourced primary credit provider, or you can use an existing credit card.
Trucking companies — ranging in size from one-truck owner-operators to fleets with a couple hundred trucks — can take advantage of the National Preferred program.
Another benefit of being a member of one of these programs is the Bridgestone/Firestone Fleet Support Center. It provides 24/7 telephone access to emergency road service — not just for tires, but also for any truck problem.
Kolasinsky estimates that fleets experience an average of one breakdown per truck per year. For a fleet with 100 trucks, that's 100 breakdowns in a year — most of them tire-related.
The support center offers flexible dispatching options. Most companies (an estimated 70%) use the service all the time, with the center taking calls directly from the driver and handling the entire breakdown. About 25% use the service after hours and on weekends. Some fleets take the call from the driver, then hand the dispatching over to the call center. Another option sets up a special phone number for a fleet's drivers to call.
Another helpful program offered by Bridgestone/Firestone is Breakdown Manager. This program, accessed via the Internet, records all details of road service events. It allows you to select service providers, dispatch them, monitor the progress of repairs and prepare reports on emergency road service activity and costs. You can set up your own list of "preferred providers." Different levels of access can be set up for different personnel. Breakdown Manager is free for use in conjunction with the Fleet Support Center.
Enrollment in the National Fleet or National Preferred program is required to use the Fleet Support Center. For more information, contact your local Bridgestone/Firestone dealer.
GOODYEAR
Goodyear's emergency roadside program is called 4-Tires-Now. It provides access to a network of emergency service outlets throughout the United States and Canada — a distribution network of about 2,000 commercial Goodyear dealers.
Anyone can use 4-Tires-Now to find emergency roadside service, but there are extra benefits for national accounts and what Goodyear calls preferred fleets.
Richard Kirk with Goodyear explains that preferred fleets "are like a mini national account." These fleets get many of the same benefits of national accounts. Tire prices will be the same as they have previously arranged with their local dealer. Rates for labor, after-hours road service, mileage charges and the like are the same for preferred fleets as for national accounts.
"This prevents them from getting into a situation out in the middle of nowhere, where some dealers might try to take advantage of the situation and increase their pricing," Kirk says.
Billing for preferred fleets is handled through the customer's local dealer.
"It takes the complications out [of breakdowns] as far as dealing with forms of payment, Comchek or whatever, and provides consistent pricing," Kirk says.
Customers who are not a national account or a preferred fleet can use the service to get emergency roadside service by calling (877) 4-TIRES-NOW. However, there is no guaranteed pricing, and they must make payment arrangements directly with the dealer who does the emergency service.
National accounts are automatically enrolled in 4-Tires-Now. If you're not a national account, no matter what size your fleet, you're eligible to enroll as a preferred fleet.
"I would recommend to any fleet, small or large, that if they're interested in our program to talk to the local commercial dealer in their area," says Kris Fettig, administrator for the program. "We get people up and running, that's what it's all about."
MICHELIN
Michelin offers ONCall for its national accounts and its new generation X One wide single tire users. This is a new incarnation of a road service program Michelin has had for more than 15 years.
ONCall furnishes 24/7/365 service for fleets, using an extensive network of service providers that are available to assist fleets with many on-road service requirements. When a fleet or one of its drivers needs vehicle maintenance, tire repairs or replacement, they make one toll-free call to (800) TIRE-911 for rapid dispatch of service providers or routing to the nearest repair facility. Fleets using Michelin X One wide single tires have a different number to call. ONCall provides complete case management as well as complete data capture. Web-based case tracking shows customers the status of a repair or service job.
Owner-operator Dave Sweetman is leased to Horseless Carriage, which uses the Michelin service. "Any time there's a problem, we dial (800) TIRE-911," he says. "They take the call, assess the problem, and dispatch a service truck from the closest dealer. Particularly handy when I pulled a trailer with the odd size 17.5 Michelins. The billing gets sent back to our office and the truck gets on a roll sooner. They have saved my bacon more than several times."
DO-IT-YOURSELF SOLUTIONS
Traditionally, says Bridgestone/Firestone's Kolasinsky, most in-house breakdown services are pretty low-tech operations. "The way they do it is typically restricted to a vendor list provided at high cost that hasn't been updated in years," he says. "Paper directories and Post-It Notes are the typical low-technology solutions used every day by most fleets."
The Internet is starting to make the process easier. For instance, the Tire Industry Assn. has an online directory of facilities offering commercial tire service at www.certifiedtireservice.com. There are general breakdown service locator sites, such as Truckdown (www.truckdown.com) and the National Truck & Trailer Services Breakdown Directory (www.nttsbreakdown.com). Some tire manufacturers, such as Bridgestone/Firestone, offer online access to their dealer lists.
Bridgestone/Firestone customers who handle their own breakdown calls can be set up to use the Breakdown Manager for $2 per case. This is the same program the company's Fleet Support Center uses to manage customer breakdowns, including the Bridgestone/Firestone provider network and another 50,000 vendors providing competitive tire services as well as non-tire mechanical repairs.
Another option is using a general breakdown service. Because tires are the most common area for roadside assistance, these can all be useful in getting your truck back on the road. Every truck and engine manufacturer offers some sort of breakdown assistance program, plus there are some independent services, such as CDI Services' Road Support Division (www.911roadrepair.com, (800) 492-8125), FleetNet America (www.fleetnetamerica.com, (800)438-8961) and Truck Tire Service Corp. (www.ttsroadservice.com, (800) DIAL-TTS).
SHORTCUTS CAN COST YOU
When a truck's down and a hot load is going nowhere, it may be tempting to use emergency nail hole kits that involve injecting a rubberized string filling into the hole. This may be done by a driver, or even by a professional tire service provider. But in the long run, these kind of repairs can cost you more money than they save.
Industry recommended practices call for tires to be demounted and inspected inside and out to determine the extent of the injury before they are repaired, says Peggy Fisher, president of Tire Fleet Consulting. What looks like a small nail hole on the outside could have caused a lot more damage on the inside of the tire — even to the point where a tire shouldn't be repaired at all. If the injury is larger than suspected, the tire will gradually lose air and run flat again or "blow out," making another road call necessary.
These repairs also can let moisture migrate into the tire, causing it to rust around the injury. This could make the tire useless for retreading, or even sooner, could cause a blowout. And if an accident occurs because of this type of repair, you're opening yourself up for lawsuits.
"Fleets can specify that their emergency road service providers remove the tire from the rim and perform a proper repair," Fisher says. "However, in the heat of the battle when you have to get a truck back on the road again, pressure is often applied that results in shortcuts and on-the-wheel repairs."
Bruce Stockton, vice president of operations at Missouri-based CFI, says it's worth spending a little extra money to get the tire fixed right the first time. "I'd rather spend $200 or $300 to get someone to come out and fix a tire or hang a new tire on. I know it's right, I know it's safe, and I don't have the headaches of getting that tire back and trying to scrape that junk out of the inside of it." Once that stuff's in there, he says, it can throw the tire out of balance and you may never get that tire to run true again.
It's a common mistake to pressure the repair person to make a tire repair for almost nothing and to do it in record speed to get the truck back on the road, notes Fisher. But speedy repairs not only often mean on-the-rim repairs, but also can result in the tire being declared scrap.
"Pressuring a retreader or repairer to do the job for almost nothing results in the tire not being repaired, but being declared scrap," Fisher says. "If the vendor can't make any money on the service, he's not going to do it. So he tells the fleet the tire can't be repaired. Then a perfectly repairable and then serviceable tire ends up in the scrap pile. This is a classic example of being 'penny wise and pound foolish.'"
Tires continued...
