Car Shipping In The Summer Heat

An Inside Look At Car Shipping In The Summer Heat

Feelin’ Hot, Hot, Hot

It’s feelin’ hot, hot, hot! We all should be under the boardwalk, down by the sea. Time for everybody to go surfin’, surfin’ USA. Sorry, we’re done with the summer song cliches about the hot weather. As your local weatherman tells you to stay hydrated and out of the heat, auto transport truck drivers have a lot more to worry about as the hot weather rolls in.

There is so much going on with those big rigs hauling your vehicle that most of us just don’t think about. The oppressive summer heat combined with the usual weight loads that these vehicles have to carry wreaks havoc on tractor trailer tires.

Hot Weather and Big Rigs

In these extreme conditions, it is suggested that these truck drivers stop every two hours or every one hundred miles. As the temperature rises so does the air pressure within the tires. There are handbooks that tell drivers that if the tire is too hot to touch that they need to stop until the tire cools down. They further say to not let air out of the tires or the air pressure may be too low once the tires cool off.

This is in addition to the normal stuff a truck driver needs to worry about with his or her tires including bad wear, dual tires that come into contact with each other or parts of the vehicle, mismatched tires or tire construction (radial vs. bias) and cuts or cracks in the valve stems.

While the everyday driver doesn’t have to worry about this headache as much in their personal car, truck or van, it’s still not a bad idea to keep an eye on your tire pressure through the extreme hot weather. If your vehicle has air pressure monitors then you can see the status quite easily and you can do a visual inspection as well for anything out of the ordinary. It doesn’t hurt to have a professional take a look as well if anything seems to be amiss.

Checking all of your fluids, such as antifreeze coolant, motor oil, brake and transmission fluids isn’t a bad idea either.

The roads are taking a beating as well. There are videos of buckling roads across the country. There is even a video that shows a buckling road that acts like a ramp and the unfortunate family in a minivan traveling at highway speeds launches like Evil Knievel and fortunately lands like an Olympic gymnast.

I guess we said all of that to say this. Drive safe!

Car Shipping in the Summer Heat