Tire issues are inevitable in the shipment business. Driving nationwide to deliver packages takes a toll on vehicles, tires in particular. When you are driving thousands of miles, a decrease in tire pressure is sooner or later inevitable. Tire pressure reduction, in turn, causes blown tires. At National Truck Emergency Road Service (NTERS), we assist and care for your business’s vehicles and tires. Before we can help your fleet in a crisis on the road, your drivers need to know how to react to a blown tire. Here is a breakdown of steps they should immediately take if they have a tire give out.
What To Do When Your Truck Blows A Tire
What To Do When Your Truck Blows A Tire
Don’t Brake
Blown tires immediately cause your truck to slow and curve in a certain direction. In the heat of the moment, stepping on the brakes seems like the proper thing to do in this scary situation. But, this actually only makes things more dangerous for you because by locking your wheels up, you also lose control of your vehicle. If you have a blown tire, keep moving forward.
Accelerate
The first action you should take after your truck blows a tire is feeding the throttle and speeding up. This will continue to thrust your vehicle forward, overcoming the sideways pull caused by your blown tire. Unlike breaking, accelerating will help your truck stabilize in this frightening situation.
Stabilize and Pull Over
As your tires speed up, you will regain control of your truck. As you accelerate, you should make a minor steering correction to fix the sideways pull from your blown tire. Once you make these two actions, turn on your emergency lights, start slowing down by removing your foot from the accelerator, and steer towards the right-hand lane and safely pull over.
Call For Service
Once you have safely removed yourself from active traffic, you can either change your tire with a spare, if you know how to and have space to do so. But if you don’t know how to replace your tire or don’t have the room to complete this change, call NTERS for help. Our professional team can come to you and either replace your tire or tow you away. If you need a specific brand of tire, we are partnered with over 60,000 vendors, so we should be able to fulfill your request.
Blown tires are stressful, but knowing how to swiftly react to them is a great way to minimize the pressure in these situations. To reduce the likelihood of being put in this scenario, contact NTRS for preventative maintenance to keep your tires full. For more information about optimizing your fleet, get in touch today!