One truck down in January costs more than your whole winter maintenance budget.
We will run a complimentary 10-point winter inspection on your trucks and hand you a written report on each one. No charge, no purchase, nothing to sign.
The offer
Complimentary, and we mean it
If you run one truck or ten, you do not have a spare. A breakdown is not an inconvenience, it is the week's revenue. This is the cheapest insurance against that, because it costs nothing.
What you get
- A 10-point inspection on every truck you bring in, at no charge.
- A written report per truck with the actual measurements: tread depth in 32nds, cold PSI at each position, resting battery voltage, tested coolant freeze point.
- No purchase required and no obligation. If we find something, you get a quote and a priority order. Take it to your own mechanic if you want to.
- Performed at our truck repair locations, which are the ones set up to complete every point on the list.
Check that your location can do the full inspection first. The complete 10-point inspection needs a mechanical bay, so it runs out of our truck repair locations rather than every McCarthy store. See which locations perform the full inspection.
What we check
The 10 points, and why each one matters
These are the ten things that put trucks on the shoulder between November and February. Each one gets measured and written down, not eyeballed.
Tire condition and cold pressure
Why it matters: A steer tire under 4/32 of tread is out of service on the spot, and everything else under 2/32 is too. Tires also lose about 1 PSI for every 10 degrees the temperature drops, so a tire you set on a warm October afternoon is running low on a cold January morning without anyone touching it. Low tires run hot, wear the shoulders, cost you fuel, and ruin a casing you could have retreaded.
Brake pads and shoes
Why it matters: Brake violations lead the out-of-service list every single year. Cold stiffens the linkage and changes pushrod travel, so a brake that measured in spec in September can be past the adjustment limit in January with nobody having touched it. Uneven lining wear across an axle is the early warning.
Air system and dryer
Why it matters: Every air system pulls in water. In summer it drains and nobody notices. In winter it collects at a low point, freezes overnight, and the truck either will not build pressure in the morning or leaves a brake dragging. The usual cause is an air dryer cartridge that has been in service too long. If nobody can tell you the date on the cartridge, that is your answer.
Battery date and voltage
Why it matters: Cold cuts the cranking power a battery can deliver at the same time thickened oil demands more of it. That is why batteries almost never fail in October. A resting voltage reading and a load test tell you whether you are replacing it on your schedule or on the coldest morning of the year.
Belts and hoses
Why it matters: Rubber stiffens as it gets cold, and stiff rubber that is already cracked or glazed lets go. A belt failure takes the charging system with it and often the water pump, and it happens a long way from your shop. A squeeze test costs a minute.
Coolant level and freeze point
Why it matters: The level in the reservoir tells you very little. The freeze point is what counts, and coolant that has been topped off with water over the year will freeze well above what you think. A frozen block or a cracked heater core is an engine problem, not a maintenance problem. We test it rather than guess.
Lights, signals and reflectors
Why it matters: This is the easiest violation to prevent and the one we find most often. Road salt corrodes connections, vibration on frozen pavement works grounds loose, and a lens that cracked in October fills with water and fails in December. It is also the one thing on this list you can catch yourself in a two-minute walkaround.
Wipers, washer and defrost
Why it matters: Summer washer fluid freezes on the glass at highway speed, which is a visibility emergency rather than a comfort issue. Winter blades, fluid rated to twenty below, and a defroster that actually clears the windshield are safety equipment in December.
Block heater and starting aid
Why it matters: Block heater cords get dragged, cut, and corroded, and nobody notices until the truck will not start. We confirm the heater is actually drawing current, not just that the cord plugs in. A no-start in your own yard is still a day you are not working.
Fuel system and water separator
Why it matters: Untreated diesel clouds and gels as it gets cold, plugs the filter, and strands the truck. Water sitting in the separator freezes well before the fuel does. This one is almost entirely preventable with winter blend, an anti-gel additive, a drained separator and a filter with a known change date. The operators who get caught are usually the ones who switched to winter blend late because the fall stayed mild.
Rather run it yourself?
Take the same sheet our technicians use. It is the identical 10-point form, free to download, with space to record your readings. If you are doing a full DOT pre-trip, the complete Fleet Readiness checklist covers tires, brakes, lights, coupling devices, emergency equipment, steering and suspension.
Whatever we find gets written down with the measurement next to it, so you can decide what to fix now and what can wait until spring. The report is yours either way.
Book Your Complimentary InspectionWhy us
A hundred winters of this
We are family owned, we started with a handful of trucks ourselves, and we have been getting East Coast operators through winter since 1926. There is a location near almost every route you run.
Straight answers
What owner-operators ask us
What is the catch?
There is not one. We are betting that if we do a careful job and hand you honest paperwork, you will think of us when you do need tires or brake work. If we find nothing, you leave with a clean report and we have spent an hour. That is a trade we are happy to make.
I only run three trucks. Is this really for me?
You are exactly who it is for. Big fleets have maintenance managers and spare units. You do not. When one of your trucks is down, that is a third of what you can haul this week, which is why an hour in October is worth more to you than it is to them.
I do my own maintenance.
Good, and most of the operators we respect most do. Take the sheet and run it yourself, the download is above and it costs nothing. Bring it in if you want a second set of eyes on something specific, or a freeze point tested and a battery load tested with equipment you may not have in the shop.
Are you going to try to sell me tires?
If your steer tires are at 3/32 we are going to tell you, because you cannot legally run them. Then you get a number and you decide. Take the report to whoever you want. We would rather you fix it somewhere than run it into February.
Can I go to any McCarthy location?
Not for the full 10-point inspection. Several of the points need a mechanical bay, so the complete inspection runs out of our truck repair locations. Check the list before you drive over so you are not making the trip twice.
Book your complimentary inspection
Send us a request and someone from your nearest truck repair location will call to set a time. Usually the same business day.
The full 10-point inspection is performed at McCarthy Tire truck repair locations. Check the list before you head over. No purchase necessary.