Tire management benchmarks: CPK and 4 more indicators

Many fleet managers keep track of their tire indicators and build comparisons using their own data. But without an external reference, they cannot know whether the numbers are good, average or poor.

Is a CPK of R$0.04 acceptable, or a sign that the operation is losing money? Is a premature disposal rate of 12% normal, or far above what well-managed fleets achieve?

Benchmarks help answer these questions because they serve as references for averages in a market similar to yours. However, remember: they are not goals to immediately include in your management.

You still need to consider the fleet's particular characteristics that directly influence indicators. So use benchmark numbers to understand where your operation stands, and analyze its characteristics to understand where you can actually seek improvements.

Read on:

• Why comparing with the market matters
• The indicators that serve as a yardstick
• Where to find market references
• How to perform a self-assessment of your operation

Why comparing with the market matters

If you believe you have good indicators, that is generally a good sign. But what seems normal within your operation may be far from what other fleets with a similar profile already achieve.

A premature disposal rate, for example, tends to be significantly lower in operations using a tire management system than in those still operating without this technology.

That is why it is worth understanding what operations with better averages do differently and assessing whether your fleet's characteristics justify the gap or whether there is real room for improvement.

Generally, a benchmark serves three practical functions:

1. Sets expectations: shows whether what the operation delivers falls within a reasonable range or whether there is significant room for improvement.
2. Justifies investment: when managers can demonstrate that their indicators are below the market average, it becomes easier to get improvement projects approved by directors.
3. Directs effort: instead of trying to improve everything at once, the benchmark points to where the gap between the operation and the reference is greatest, and that is where returns tend to be faster.

The indicators that serve as a yardstick

Five tire management performance indicators serve as a basis for comparison for any road freight fleet. Each measures a different aspect of the operation:

CPK (cost per kilometer traveled per tire)

It is the most comprehensive tire management indicator. It consolidates total investment in each tire (purchase, retreading and services) divided by actual mileage covered. It allows objective comparisons of makes, models, positions and route profiles.

Retreading rate

It measures the percentage of tires in the operation that are reused for a second or third life. The higher the rate, the better the use of casings, which directly affects the cost of acquiring new tires.

Premature disposal rate

It shows how many tires leave the operation before completing their expected useful life. This indicator reveals avoidable losses, and each additional percentage point represents money that left through the tire repair shop door unnecessarily.

Tire cost as a percentage of total operating cost

This indicator places tire expenditure within the fleet's total cost. It is the metric connecting tire management with the operation's financial management.

In general, the market reference is that tires represent between 8% and 20% of a road freight fleet's operating cost, a range that directly reflects management maturity. Fleets with structured control tend to operate closer to the lower end.

Frequency of roadside tire maintenance (assistance)

It measures how many times per period a vehicle needs tire assistance on a route because of a puncture, blowout or pressure loss. It is the most visible indicator of a lack of prevention: each roadside assistance call is a failure that could have been anticipated with inspection, rotation or scheduled replacement.

In the maintenance routine, pressure, tread depth, rotation and alignment are among the central points of ongoing tire care. So when roadside assistance calls increase, the indicator should be read alongside inspection quality, rotation scheduling and keeping track of wear.

Where to find market references

Available sources of tire management benchmarks in Brazil have limitations that managers need to know to use the data in the proper context.

Tire manufacturers, for example, publish performance, durability and expected CPK data.

These are useful references but carry a commercial bias, since the numbers generally reflect ideal usage conditions rather than average Brazilian operating conditions, with roads in varying condition, loads not always within limits and mechanical maintenance that does not always keep pace with tire wear.

Industry organizations such as CNT and ANTT offer macro data on road transport, including fleet condition and infrastructure information. They are useful for general context but do not usually provide the level of detail needed for tire management benchmarking.

Another option is academic and technical studies on fleet tire management, but these are generally based on individual case studies, with small samples and specific contexts. They help explain methods and parameters but do not form a broad reference base.

The most valuable (and least accessible) benchmark comes from those running operations every day.

Aggregated data from real operations, with statistically meaningful volume, segmented by fleet size, route profile and management maturity, are the kind of reference that turns tire management into truly data-driven decisions.

When there is no reliable public range for CPK, retreading, premature disposal or roadside assistance for the same fleet profile, the safest approach is to treat these indicators as an internal yardstick for progress. Compare similar makes, models, positions, routes and periods before turning any external number into a goal.

How to perform a self-assessment of your operation

Even without access to all market benchmarks, a manager can (and should) carry out a structured self-assessment. The process is simple and follows three steps:

1 – Gather your own numbers

If the operation already has a tire management system running, the data probably exist; the task is to extract and organize them.

This includes: average CPK by make and model, retreading rate over the last 12 months, premature disposal rate with reasons, tire cost as a percentage of operating cost and frequency of roadside assistance calls.

It is also worth checking whether the routine records the points that most affect tire condition after installation on the vehicle: pressure, tread wear, visible damage, rotation, balancing and alignment. Without this detail, the final number appears but the cause becomes hard to investigate.

If any of these numbers are unavailable, that is already a finding in itself.

2 – Compare with the references

Use available references as a starting point, without treating every source as a ready-made goal. Identify where your indicators fall within an acceptable range, where they have worsened compared with the operation's own history and where there is no reliable external comparison. They do not all have to be in the ideal range; the objective is to identify the largest gaps.

3 – Prioritize where the gap is greatest

If CPK is within the reference range but the premature disposal rate is double the reference, the initial effort should focus on understanding why tires are leaving service early. If the retreading rate is far below average, the issue may lie in make selection, tire repair shop service quality or casing preservation.

For fleets that do not yet have these data organized, the first step is to structure collection, starting with tire management in the tire repair shop, where each inspection, relocation and disposal must be recorded consistently.

Now, talk to a Prolog specialist and see how to structure tire management in your operation with real data.