Truck wheel alignment is often viewed as a workshop task: correct uneven tyre wear, protect the steering components and reduce fuel use.
Presented at TruckShowX, the case study from Big Wheels Truck Alignment and Impact HQ Australia showed that wheel alignment can influence more than tyre life and fuel consumption. It can also affect driver comfort, confidence and fatigue across a shift.
When trucks do not track correctly, drivers can feel the effects throughout a shift. Vibration, noise, steering effort and confidence in how the vehicle responds can all be affected. For an industry working through persistent driver shortages and retention challenges, those seemingly technical issues can become a people issue.
The session examined the results of alignment work carried out on urban delivery trucks, alongside anonymous driver feedback before and after the vehicles were set up for their operating conditions.
Speaking during the TruckShowX session, Dr Richa Vijayraj, founder of Impact HQ Australia, said all drivers surveyed after the alignment work reported improved comfort and braking confidence, alongside less vibration and noise.
“100% of the drivers reported feeling more comfortable [and] improved braking,” she said. “They also reported less vibration, noise, more confident speed. So overall driver safety and wellbeing definitely achieved the intended outcome.”
When a truck feels wrong, drivers notice
The case study focused on light delivery trucks undertaking stop-start metropolitan work in Melbourne, where frequent turning, braking and tight access conditions can magnify poor vehicle setup.
Lachlan Van de Haar, CEO of Big Wheels Truck Alignment, said the work was not simply a matter of making a basic steering correction.
“We didn’t just sort of straighten the wheels,” Van de Haar said. “We didn’t just toe and forget. We precision aligned them — camber, caster, toe and thrust-angle alignment — to suit their application.”
That application-specific approach matters because an alignment setting suitable for one operation may not be appropriate for another. A truck spending its days negotiating tight urban streets, cul-de-sacs and loading areas faces different demands to a linehaul prime mover travelling long highway distances.
For drivers, the difference can be immediate. One participant in the case study described the change after alignment in practical terms.
“The truck just glides and I finish my shift feeling less tired or less stressed and feeling more confident about the driving on the road.”
That feedback is not a replacement for formal fatigue controls. But it is a reminder that vehicle condition can either support or undermine the driver’s experience during a long shift.
Comfort is a safety outcome
Poor alignment introduces drag into the vehicle, which is normally discussed in the context of fuel consumption and tyre wear. But that drag can also affect how predictable and settled the truck feels on the road.
“If you’re seeing excessive tyre wear and things like this, then obviously something is dragging,” Van de Haar said. “That’s also going to cause an inefficiency.”
For the fleet, that inefficiency may show up in litres per 100 kilometres and premature tyre replacement. For the driver, it may appear as additional vibration, noise, reduced confidence during braking or a vehicle that requires more effort to keep settled through the day.
Vijayraj said that should prompt fleet operators to think about alignment as part of their social and workforce outcomes, not only their environmental and financial targets.
“Driver shortage is one of the biggest problems everyone talks about — driver retention, not having enough drivers,” she said. “This also makes a case for your overall ESG outcome.”
The “S” in ESG is often interpreted in transport as a broad workforce, safety and wellbeing commitment. Vehicle setup can be a tangible, measurable part of that commitment.
A practical place to start
Fleet operators do not need to treat driver wellbeing and maintenance as separate conversations.
A well-managed alignment program can support both. It gives maintenance teams an opportunity to investigate uneven tyre wear, monitor wheel and axle geometry, review tyre pressure practices and identify whether a vehicle is appropriately configured for its duty cycle.
It also provides a useful prompt for structured driver feedback.
Questions such as these can help fleets identify issues that may not be immediately visible in workshop data:
- Is the vehicle wandering or requiring regular steering correction?
- Has vibration increased at particular speeds?
- Does the truck feel settled under braking?
- Is the driver experiencing more road noise than comparable vehicles?
- Does the truck feel more tiring to operate by the end of a shift?
The value is not in relying on driver perception alone. It is in combining that feedback with tyre-wear patterns, alignment measurements, telematics and maintenance records.
Better trucks can help keep drivers
The case study showed that practical maintenance improvements can produce multiple outcomes at once: reduced tyre wear, lower fuel use, fewer emissions and a more comfortable driving experience.
For fleets facing pressure to improve safety, retain skilled drivers and control operating costs, that combination matters.
The lesson is simple. Truck alignment should not be left in the “tyres only” category.
It is one of the ways fleets can make vehicles easier, quieter and less fatiguing to operate — while also improving the numbers on the workshop and fuel report.
