Continuous Improvement: Repurposing spare tires saves time, money

By Dani Weber / ADOT Communications

Since ADOT has embarked on its journey of continuous improvement, employees all over the agency have found ways to do business safer, faster and more efficiently. The Equipment Services team in Phoenix even found costs savings in a car trunk.

Typically, vehicles from the ADOT fleet that have been replaced are sold at auction. Some of those vehicles had spare tires that have never been used.

To be able to repurpose unused spare tires, the first thing that had to change was ADOT’s Tire Policy. Previously, tires were replaced based on age. By changing the policy to allow using tires based on their condition instead, Equipment Services has the ability to repurpose unused spare tires.

Equipment Services Fleet Coordinator James Geering said, “We’ve already paid for the tires. Why send them to auction when we haven’t gotten any use out of them yet?”

As anyone who’s owned a vehicle probably knows, replacing tires can be expensive. Just one sedan tire can cost more than $100; for heavy-equipment vehicles, the bill is much steeper.

Using spare tires that are still in good condition takes advantage of resources that ADOT already has available, rather than buying something new. While the annual total cost savings is still being calculated, the Equipment Services team is finding they can do their jobs in a more cost-effective manner.

“It was a team effort,” Geering said. “We came together and we realized we could use those tires elsewhere.”