What is a tire management log?
A tire management log is a register of every tire the fleet owns: where it came from, what it cost, which vehicle and position it is on, how its tread and pressure have changed, and how far it has run. With it you can answer the questions that decide tire spend: which brand gives the lowest cost per km, which tires must come off now, and which vehicles wear tires faster than the rest.
This tire management log in Excel tracks each tire by serial number and DOT code through fitting, checks, rotations, repairs, retreads and removal, and turns the records into cost per 1,000 km, remaining tread, tire age and an alert for each tire.
What should a fleet tire log record?
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Serial number and DOT code | Identifies the tire through rotations, retreads and warranty claims, and gives its manufacture date |
| Brand, pattern and size | Lets you compare cost per km between brands on the same size |
| Purchase date, price and supplier | The starting cost of the tire |
| Vehicle and position code | Shows where the tire runs; steer, drive and trailer positions wear differently |
| Fit and remove odometer | Gives the km the tire actually ran |
| Tread depth at three grooves | Shows remaining life and irregular wear |
| Pressure against target | Under-inflation is a common cause of fast wear and failures |
| Rotations, repairs, retreads and reason removed | Adds the full cost of the tire and shows why tires leave service |
How to use the tire management log
- Set up Settings once. Enter the age limit, tread warning margin and pressure tolerance, then your vehicles with their current odometer, your brands and your sizes with new tread depth and target pressure.
- Register every tire. Give each tire one row: serial number, DOT date code, brand, size, purchase date and price. When it is fitted, add the vehicle, position code, fit date and fit odometer.
- Log tread and pressure checks. Add one row per tire per check with the tread depth at three grooves and the measured pressure. The register picks up the latest check.
- Log rotations, repairs and retreads. Add each event with its cost, and update the tire's position on the register after a rotation.
- Close removed tires. Enter the remove date, odometer and reason and change the status. A tire moved to another vehicle keeps its row: put the km run so far into Earlier km and enter the new fit.
- Update odometers and review. Update each vehicle's odometer on Settings at least monthly, act on the alerts and compare cost per 1,000 km by brand and by vehicle on Summary.
How are cost per 1,000 km, remaining tread and tire age calculated?
The DOT code on the sidewall ends with four digits for the week and year the tire was made: 1224 means week 12 of 2024. The template turns those digits into an approximate manufacture date, accurate to the week, and an age in years.
The alerts use limits you can edit on Settings and Positions. The defaults are a tread limit of 4.0 mm for steer positions and 3.0 mm for drive, trailer and single rear positions, a 1.0 mm warning margin, an age limit of 5 years and a pressure tolerance of ±10%. These are fleet policy defaults, not legal limits. Check the legal minimum tread depth where your vehicles operate and the tire maker's guidance on age and inflation pressure.
Worked example: a retreaded drive tire near its limit
Tire T-1003 is a Continental 315/80R22.5 on the left outer position of the first drive axle (2LO) of truck TRK-07. It cost 1,300, ran 118,000 km in its first life, was retreaded for 520 and refitted on 20 February 2025 at 104,000 km with 15 mm of new tread. TRK-07 now reads 148,600 km.
| Item | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Km run | 118,000 + (148,600 − 104,000) | 162,600 km |
| Total cost | 1,300 + 520 | 1,820 |
| Cost per 1,000 km | 1,820 ÷ 162,600 × 1,000 | 11.19 |
| Latest tread (5 October 2026) | lowest of 3.4, 3.6 and 3.2 mm | 3.2 mm |
| Remaining tread | 3.2 − 3.0 (drive limit) | 0.2 mm |
| Projected km to limit | 44,600 ÷ (15 − 3.2) × 0.2 | about 760 km |
| Age (DOT 4521) | made around 5 November 2021 | 4.9 years |
0.2 mm is inside the 1.0 mm warning margin, so the alert reads Tread near limit: plan the removal at the next stop. On the same truck, new steer tire T-1001 has cost 1,450 over 52,000 km, or 27.88 per 1,000 km so far, with 3.5 mm left above the 4.0 mm steer limit, about 21,410 km. Cost per 1,000 km falls the longer a tire runs, so compare brands on tires that have finished their life, not on new ones.
Common tire tracking mistakes
- No serial number or DOT codeYou cannot follow a tire through rotations, retreads and claims, or know its age.
- Tread measured in one grooveShoulder and inner wear stay hidden. Measure the outer, center and inner grooves.
- Odometers not updatedKm run and cost per 1,000 km fall behind and the projections are wrong.
- Brands compared on new tiresEarly cost per km is always high. Compare tires that have been removed.
- Old stock acceptedCheck the DOT code at delivery. In the example, T-1002 was bought in 2023 but made in 2020.
- Rotations not loggedThe register shows the wrong position and wear patterns by position are lost.
How do tire position codes work?
Each tire position has a short code so that checks and rotations point to one wheel. Axles are numbered from the front: 1L and 1R are the steer tires, 2LO, 2LI, 2RI and 2RO are the left outer, left inner, right inner and right outer tires on the first dual axle, and trailer axles start with T, such as T1LO. Vans and cars with single rear wheels use 2L and 2R, and SP is the spare.
The Positions sheet shows these codes on an axle diagram for a three-axle truck, a three-axle trailer and a van, with the tread limit for each axle type. Add your own codes to the list if your vehicles have other layouts.
Plan tire spend with the tire cost calculator
This log records what each tire actually cost and how far it ran. To compare two tire options before you buy, or to estimate tire cost per km for the fleet, use the fleet tire cost calculator with the prices and km per tire from the Summary sheet. Raise a job for each tire change or repair with the maintenance work order template, and add rotations and tread checks to your preventive maintenance schedule.
Limits of a spreadsheet tire log
The log is only as accurate as the readings typed into it. It does not read odometers or measure tread and pressure by itself, a tire moved between vehicles has to be updated by hand, and several people editing one file at once can overwrite each other. As the fleet grows, schedule tire checks and rotations as maintenance tasks so they are not missed.