How do your maintenance practices stack up? Transportation Media conducts an annual Buying Trends Survey which offers a glimpse into the maintenance practices of fleets and owner/operators. The statistics on this page reflect owner/operator responses to questions about their tire and heavy-duty engine oil purchasing and maintenance procedures.

Tires

Most owner/operators (59%) prefer to outsource their tire maintenance to a third-party such as a dealer, according to our research.

Our research also found that price will have an influence on tire purchasing decisions 33% of the time among owner/ops. Fifty-one per cent will use a strategy involving in-house tire preventive maintenance services such as fleet inspection, flat checks and pressure maintenance as their top way to control tire costs. Only 16% plan to control tire costs by purchasing a better product.

When it comes to tire failures, uneven tread wear is the biggest problem on steer tires. Punctures are the biggest threat to owner/operator drive tires and tread/ply separation poses the biggest risk on trailer tires.

Oils

Only 19% of owner/operators are using synthetic heavy-duty engine oils, according to our research. Forty-eight per cent select a premium mineralbased HDEO and 33% use a conventional mineral-based oil.

Oil analysis is important to 55% of owner/operators, with most opting for quarterly analyses.

When it comes to oil change intervals, 24% of owner/operators have a 20,001-25,000-km interval while 23% change their oil slightly more frequently, between 15,001-20,000 km. Twenty per cent of respondents change their oil between 10,001-15,000 km while another 20% change their oil every 10,000 km or less.