What type of tire tread is recommended for use on steering axles for highway trucks?

In a perfect world, fleets would equip their tractors with all-position rib tires on the steer axle, as well as the inner and outer duals of the drive axle. The reason is fairly obvious: saving money. First of all, keeping just two types of tires in inventory - one model for steer and drive axles and another for trailers - is less expensive than keeping a variety of tires in stock. This is true whether a fleet is stocking its own inventory or a supplier is doing it for them.

In the second place, using rib tires can mean saving money on fuel. A good rib tire, which has less tread than a thicker drive tire, is going to produce less rolling resistance, translating into better fuel economy.

"That lower rolling resistance gives you tremendous fuel savings

• a 3% to 5% improvement in fuel economy," says Ron Gilbert,

national director of sales-commercial tires for Toyo Tires. "You would need to rotate them more frequently back to front to help even out tread wear, but from the fuel savings alone you'd still be ahead."

Finally, using an all-position rib tire all the way around the tractor saves a fleet big time in terms of tire pricing. "It'll save you $1,000 to $2,000 per power unit (about $100 per tire) using ribs all the way around, excluding the trailer axle position," says Curtis Decker, manager of field engineering at Continental Tire North America (CTNA). "That's a big upfront savings."