Legal Tread Depth And Condition Of Trailer Tires
Topic 27114 | Page 1
You have it correct 4/32" for the steers and 2/32" for the others. No steel or cords can be showing. As for flat spots I guess that would be up to the DOT guy and his mood that day. If we had tires that had a flat spot I would want them on the trailer not the truck.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
The tread of the tire has to have legal tread depth all the way around. That means if there are flat spots any where on that tire, they are not legal because the tread depth in that portion of the tire is not deep enough.
There are actual marks on the sidewall where they do there measurements at but if those flat spots are less than legal tread depth the whole tire is illegal not mention shakes the heck out of your truck and anybody mechanical knows vibration is never good for any moving parts
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.New Reply:
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I really would appreciate some feedback on whether or not certain tires would be considered legal. Not whether or not you would run with them. Specifically concerning tires with flat spots across major tread grooves. I've read the fmcsa guidelines. But I'm wondering if I'm misinterpreting them. The three main points in the regulations were that the metal wiring could not be exposed in the tire, Steer tires had to have tread that measured at least 4/32 of an inch in depth and the rest of the tires had to measure at least 2/32 of an inch in depth. All measured in major grooves. I thought that was a simple enough concept but I was told by a senior driver that DOT Checks tread depth and measures flat as 1/16 and exposed metal as zero. Therefore if you have a flat spot on a tire it is perfectly legal. This is confusing to me and I just would like a little bit more feedback on this matter from diffetent drivers if possible. I also have pictures of the tire in question and it is just a hypothetical Tire but I don't think I can post it on here . Again, I'm not asking for what we can get away with or what we would roll on due to the Impractical nature of getting every single imperfection fixed on our trucks and trailers. I'm specifically inquiring about what drivers interpret as legal and how they come to that conclusion. TIA
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.