For a professional driver, breaking down on the side of a busy interstate can be a complete nightmare, especially if traffic is heavy or you’re on a particularly steep mountain turnpike.
That’s why taking care of routine truck maintenance is such an important part of staying on the road.
Breakdowns can be not only dangerous, but also costly, especially if any necessary repairs cause you to miss reaching a designated stop on schedule. Depending on what type of load you might be carrying, missing a deadline can be devastating.
However, taking time for routine maintenance can keep your truck running at optimum levels, keeping you on the road and on schedule, so you won’t lose money by failing to arrive at a stop on time.
Love’s and Speedco love your truck
Because big rig service departments understand how important professional truck drivers and their rides are to the transportation industry, Love’s Truck Care and Speedco have teamed up and now offer more than 400 total truck repair care locations nationwide, ensuring that your truck needs can be met no matter what part of the country your travels take you.
The latest Love’s & Speedco Truck Care opened in Marion, Illinois on Interstate 57 at Route 13, marking the 400th truck care center partnership between Love’s and Speedco nationwide.
“In just over a decade, we’ve grown to be the nation’s largest and most comprehensive preventive maintenance and total truck care network, providing coverage 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with more than 1,500 maintenance bays across the country,” says Gary Price, executive vice president of Truck Care for Love’s.
By teaming up, Speedco and Love’s Truck Care provide more truck services than each company could alone. They not only offer emergency roadside service – a huge benefit when you’re trapped on a runaway truck ramp and need to get back on the road fast – they also have expanded their truck repair to include light mechanical services. One of the biggest perks is Love’s Truck Care TirePass lanes, which are a bit like a racecar pit for professional truck drivers. Using a special lane at the truck stop, you can quickly have the pressure and the tread on your tires checked, so you’ll feel more confident and secure on the road.
More on TirePass
If you’re not familiar with TirePass, it is located on the inside diesel lane at all Love’s Travel Stops across the country. Because tire health is so important for professional drivers – tire problems including blowouts happen much more often than most people think (the numbers would probably surprise drivers, too) – doing regular upkeep is vital for safe travels. Getting your tires assessed and inflated can not only help prevent roadside emergencies, but a properly inflated tire can also boost fuel efficiency and extend the life of your tires. That’s a big deal when you’re driving an 18-wheeler, since tires are already more expensive than those on the vehicle you drive at home. TirePass is a smart stop to make as part of your mandatory pre-trip inspection, because you will know if there are any tire-related problems that you should be concerned about that could cause unwelcome problems down the road.
Whether you’re at home or you’ve just dropped off a load and are set to get back behind the wheel, to find the closest TirePass location,
You’ll be able to get your tires assessed to prevent a potential compliance violation while traveling and inflated if necessary before you get back on the road.
TirePass is quick and easy. It’s so easy, in fact, that you can have your tires checked while you’re fueling, which gives the entire experience a racecar pitstop feel. You’ll be back on the road almost as quickly, and the entire thing only requires a few simple steps.
Here’s how it works:
- Pull up to the TirePass fuel lane, which as we said, is the inside diesel lane at Love’s.
- Find the call box, and press the button.
- When a team member raises the TirePass arm, pull ahead.
- While you fuel, a tire technician will check and inflate your tires, which saves plenty of vital travel time.
- Your TirePass report will be available inside the Love’s Travel Stop for a small fee.
Because professional drivers spend so much time on the road, regular tire checks are a pretty important way to ensure that you are driving as safely as possible on the road.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Large Truck Crash Causation Study – last updated in 2019 – of the 142,000 serious large truck accidents that occur on U.S. roads, the FMCSA determined that 8,000 of those crashes, or 5.6 percent – were the result of tire blowouts, which can cause a driver to lose control of his or her truck completely, with potentially devastating results.
Getting your tires checked at a TirePass can help prevent blowouts by detecting tire problems before they become tire tragedies. Too, TirePass can help prolong the life of your tires by ensuing that they are properly inflated, and can prevent time-sucking emergency roadside tire repairs.
Love’s & Speedco are a Fleet National Tire Account Provider
If you do have a problem with one or more of your tires, Love’s and Speedco accept a variety of national tire accounts, which allow the service you receive to be billed to that account and paid later.
National tire accounts offer consolidated billing as one of the perks, so you’ll only need a purchase order to get your tire service completed and have you back on the road in no time.
A national tire account program is great because you don’t have to shop around for the best price. Prices are already established, and when you sign up, you’ll have experts who will help you select the best tires, including replacement tires and retreads) you’ll have a set price and significant savings on many name brands.
Some national tire account providers include:
- Bridgestone
- Michelin
- Goodyear
- BF Goodrich
- Continental
- Yokohama
Check out each brand to find out which one works best for you, your truck, and your budget.
Love’s Quick Growth
Love’s Truck Care started in 2008, and expanded just 10 years later when the company acquired Speedco from Bridgestone Americas. The Love’s Speedco nationwide network is now the largest oil change, preventive maintenance, and total truck care facility in the U.S.
In addition to expanding its services, Love’s is also adding more products aimed at professional drivers, including Love’s Premium 10W-30 Oil, a high-performance, heavy-duty oil that’s well-suited to the long hours professional drivers put on their trucks on a weekly basis. The oil is also sold in bulk with competitive pricing.
“We’re gearing up for big plans when it comes to 2021,” Price says. “We have several large-scale projects rolling out that will take customer service to a whole new level. For us, it’s all about getting customers back on the road quickly and safely and increasing uptime for fleets.”
More about Love’s
Love’s Travel Stops have more than 530 locations in 41 states – 400 of these are truck service centers including Love’s and Speedco Truck Care locations – making it the nation’s leading travel stop network.
The family-owned company was founded in Oklahoma City in 1964, and employs more than 28,000 people.
Love’s provides both professional truck drivers but also motorists with 24-hour access to a clean and safe place to purchase fuel, fresh coffee, food, and more, such as items to make travel more enjoyable including travel pillows, audio books, and items for professional drivers to upgrade their cab’s comfort and efficiency levels so time spent away from home is more enjoyable.
