Operational Tests of the Technical Condition of Truck Tires

Tire wear and damage tests have been carried out on a sample of 45 trucks in Warsaw. The aim of the research was to assess the damageability and to determine the qualitative characteristics of typical operational damage to the truck tires. A linear measurement of the tread height and organoleptic assessment of the form of damage were used. Three groups of vehicles were analysed: trucks with an integrated body, used in severe conditions on short routes - category I; tractor-semi-trailer combinations, used in conditions of heavy loads on intercity routes - category II; truck-trailer combinations, used with moderate load on intercity routes, long - category III. It has been shown that the most common types of damage are: excessive tread wear, mechanical cut of the tread and uneven tread wear (35%, 30%, 24% of all tested tires, respectively). It was shown that tires in vehicles of categories I and II are distinguished by high damageability (30.5% and 28.6%, respectively), with tread cut damage prevailing in the first group, and excessive tread wear in the second group. The damageability of vehicles in the third group was more than two times lower.