Did you know that 20% of all company vehicle accidents involve, at least a percentage of the cause, inflated tires? It’s true, and low inflation not only decreases fuel economy, but can make the vehicle less responsive on slippery or heavily loaded roads.

Too many business owners don’t check the tire pressure on their vehicles, and then a hot-dog employee pushes the vehicle beyond its design limitations in adverse conditions, spelling disaster for the company’s insurance policy Not to mention a black mark on the once stellar workplace safety chart.

Everyone should check their tire pressure, unfortunately while most people know this, few do. It seems pretty silly for people to complain about gas prices and not make sure their tires are properly inflated. Did you know that flat tires can cost 2-4 miles per gallon? It’s true and that adds up to a good amount of money every time you refuel. Perhaps the analogy of flushing money down the toilet is the right one to take home at this point?

Now, how do you go about checking the air pressure in your tires? Well, it’s simple. Go to the Dollar Store, Walmart, Pep Boys or any auto parts store and simply buy a small silver tire gauge, the kind that looks like a pen with a white yardstick sticking out of it, and put it in your glove box. In fact, I’m surprised our government hasn’t sent one to every home in America to help us conserve oil. Here are some tips for checking the air pressure in your company vehicles:

1. Take the air pressure gauge from the glove box every time you fill up your car and push it onto the valve stem, after removing that little cap. Make sure it’s the right pressure.

2. You can find the proper pressure in one of two places. Either on the tire itself or in the operations manual (as long as they are the same tires that came with the car or duplicates of them).

3. Remember that depending on the season, there may be different inflation pressure recommendations from the manufacturer, so pay attention to this.

4. If any of the tires are not within 1-2 pounds of the required pressure, put the proper air pressure on them. Don’t trust gas station gauges on the pressure hose, they are often forewarned and/or inaccurate. If they look new and read about what you expect, they’re probably fine.

If you’ll recall, even the President of the United States has recommended that people check the air pressure in their tires to save fuel. Imagine if everyone did it, how much oil could we save? Please consider all of this.