***A heavy commercial truck is a vehicle weighing more than 11,795 kg. Dump trucks, tractor trailers, logging trucks, and others included in this category require an operator with professional training and a specialized license (as cited by The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE).
Commercial Truck Alignment
Every successful trucking company had to start somewhere. Trucking can be a profitable business, but you need to plan for the inevitable maintenance costs; without a maintenance fund, one junky truck could put you out of business. Trucking is a satisfying but also very competitive and capital intensive business endeavor.
But it’s more likely you’ll succeed in trucking when you develop a relationship with an honest shop to take care of your maintenance and repairs.
At Vancouver Axle and Frame, we use the best alignment equipment around, the BeeLine laser wheel alignment system. Our knowledgeable and experienced technicians will have you in and out of our shop quickly, conveniently and affordably. Start saving money NOW and schedule an alignment!
Keep More Of Your Profits With Regular Wheel Alignments On Your Fleet
Are the wheels of your trucks out of alignment…even a “little bit”? That “little bit” might be draining your finances a lot more than you think. This may be a significant reason why your business isn’t doing better or is even on the verge of collapse. Well, this is a situation you don’t have to live with!
Did you know that even a small degree of misalignment can wear out your tires long before their time?
A “little” misalignment is a lot. Think a miniscule 1° misalignment on one axle doesn’t make a difference? The truth: That misalignment could be increasing your fuel use by around 5%!
Believe it or not, even 0.5° can cut your tire’s lifespan by as much as 50%. Who needs this kind of expense? Not you, if you want to stay lean and competitive in the trucking business.
- Lower your fuel costs. Misalignment of your wheels stresses your engine, making it work harder to move your truck. The result? You get dinged with high fuel costs. The worst part: you may not even realize your vehicle is out of alignment. It can be THAT subtle.
- Lower your emissions. Regular alignments can also reduce carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions emitted from your commercial vehicle.
- Preserve your whole truck. The other mechanical parts of your truck will also experience less stress and longer life when kept in balance with regular alignment jobs.
- Increase comfort for drivers. If you’re struggling with driver turnover, you may not realize that your drivers are fatigued and burned out from driving your poorly aligned fleet; so they decide to move on. Keeping a misaligned heavy-duty truck on the road takes a toll on the human body; even a seemingly “slight” adjustment in wheel alignment can make all the difference in driver comfort.
Visible Signs of Misalignment on Tires
- Do you see wear at the shoulder of your tires?
- Uneven wear over the tread?
- Have you recently replaced your tires, yet they show premature aging?
Common Causes of Misalignment
- Has your vehicle been damaged in a collision/accident
- Did you recently replace a steering joint?
- Are you aware of your vehicle nudging a curb?
- Is your vehicle frequently driven off-road? On uneven surfaces?
Make Alignment Services Part of Your Maintenance Schedule
As a result of increased tire and fuel costs, harmful emissions, and driver fatigue, many trucking companies have turned to our laser technology as a more accurate method of wheel alignment than the method mechanical gauge with manual calibration being carried out visually.
For the best results and the greatest cost savings for you, we recommend you get your wheels aligned every 12 months at a minimum.
You might want to coordinate your alignments to be done right before your annual safely inspections and keep your trucks on an ongoing schedule.
Between your annual inspections, monitor your tire wear regularly. Any uneven wear you see is a red flag for misalignment. It’s also a good idea to align any new vehicles you add to your fleet. And, of course, if your vehicle has been in an accident, recheck your calibration before putting that vehicle back on the road.
Contact us now! We’ll place you on a preventative maintenance program!
