Tyres in general are better than they used to be, when I started driving a car you could expect one or two punctures a year, nowadays I think I’ve had two in the last ten years.
My Dad carried a spare wheel when on twins ,he even carried a big air gun but when moving on to super singles he gave up the spare wheel .ive changed hundreds of tyres using a tyre bander to get tubeless to seal then we got an air tank and welded a 2 inch bore pipe in with quarter turn tap,now after watching top gear a few years ago i use lighter fuel its quicker.no torque wrench back then just plenty of oil on the nuts up with the air gun and 2 cracks with the bar was fine.
Changed a fair few tyres in my time,from a wheelbarrow to earthmovers but i think the worse ones were Cross ply super singles 
Tyre change aint no rocket science, done it several times, bit more tricky was to change the propshafts bearing on the road.
The worst zb zb zb tyre to change ever is a 18 410 trials bike tube tyre with spin stoppers !
when they blew out when i started driving would normaly bowl the bugger down the bank on the side of road/motorway easier than winding it back on or throwing it on the trailer after changing the wheel…
When my dad was driving, back in the late 70s, most of the drivers had to call a fitter when they got a flat, despite carrying spares on the unit and trailer. Nothing to do with H&S, but because they were split rims, and were usually full of either tobacco or cb radios, on their way into the country!
Suedehead:
To be fair unless you go off road blow outs are not as common as in the days when 70mph was normal motorway cruising speed.
Could have been something to do with the crap remoulds being used back in them days
Thats true, along with thousands of Ring bulbs which blew as fast as you could fit 'em, our gaffer caught the Bandag bug, didn’t need to worry about wheel nuts coming loose or seizing up they weren’t on long enough for that, needed wing nuts (sic) on the wings and rear lights too, more than enough of them got smashed apart by flailing treads.
scaniason:
When my dad was driving, back in the late 70s, most of the drivers had to call a fitter when they got a flat, despite carrying spares on the unit and trailer. Nothing to do with H&S, but because they were split rims, and were usually full of either tobacco or cb radios, on their way into the country!
Proper driver, I probably know him! 
cliffystephens:
the call outs were never that expensive when i had trucks problem was would not get discount on new tyre and the buggers always had to put the best on …
We get told what to fit. We cant just get out the new mich so it costs you more. If you ask for budget you get budget. Only the delivery companys ie royal mail they dont really care what gets fitted as long as the truck gets moving. Every DPD delivery unit that has a blow out they call out two tyre companys, first fitter gets paid 2 call outs if there before 60min, secound fitter just gets one and leaves they also call out a mechanic and a recover truck to every job so there call out cost must be through the roof to get there trucks running.
Times have changed so much over the years.
It’s nice these days to be able to phone for help without even leaving the cab if you have a tyre problem
But types of tyre and road conditions weren’t always so good.
When running to the m/e 40 years ago thewre was no option but to do it yourself when there was no 'phones within 1,000 miles!
We always carried 2 or perhaps 3 spares,which would normally see you through a trip.
If you were pulling a fully freighted supercube then it was always better to carry more spares as they would pop off at frequent intervals.
On one trip to Teheran with a supercube,I took two spare wheels,plus two extra tyres and 4 tubes.
With being so well prepared I was lucky in only having one flat in Bulgaria that only needed a tube.
With having a desert crossing between Jordan and Saudi,sometimes one had to lower the tyre pressures for better traction in soft sand,but this would sometimes come back to haunt you later on in the trip.
I remember one such trip,when I had had several flat tyres and halfway across Saudi I had a flat and no spares left,so I had to take a day off and spend the day sorting out and repairing my best tyres.
Destination Teheran,spare wheels under the trailer plus spare tyres on the roof rack.
Sort out the best!
Ready for the road again!
[
bestbooties:
Times have changed so much over the years.
It’s nice these days to be able to phone for help without even leaving the cab if you have a tyre problem
But types of tyre and road conditions weren’t always so good.
When running to the m/e 40 years ago thewre was no option but to do it yourself when there was no 'phones within 1,000 miles!
We always carried 2 or perhaps 3 spares,which would normally see you through a trip.
If you were pulling a fully freighted supercube then it was always better to carry more spares as they would pop off at frequent intervals.
On one trip to Teheran with a supercube,I took two spare wheels,plus two extra tyres and 4 tubes.
With being so well prepared I was lucky in only having one flat in Bulgaria that only needed a tube.
With having a desert crossing between Jordan and Saudi,sometimes one had to lower the tyre pressures for better traction in soft sand,but this would sometimes come back to haunt you later on in the trip.
I remember one such trip,when I had had several flat tyres and halfway across Saudi I had a flat and no spares left,so I had to take a day off and spend the day sorting out and repairing my best tyres.Destination Teheran,spare wheels under the trailer plus spare tyres on the roof rack.
Sort out the best!
Ready for the road again!
[
Hiya…ian you’ve got no lights on your unit is that safe■■? you should walk to that phonebox in the
next country. ring for a van to fix it for you… what will vosa say■■? … not to mention no mudguard.
you bad boy.i know many who would’t drive that they’re paid by the hour and would wait for a repair.
They never worked for ronnie did they…when’s your book out, iam a waiting.
John
GasGas:
I wouldn’t advise any driver to change a wheel. If the replacement wheel came off and caused an accident they’d probably send you to prison.There’s now a process for changing wheels involving using a torque wrench, driving a short distance/waiting a while, then torquing the thing up again. Basically if you don’t do it that way you would be judged negligent if it caused an accident by coming off. No doubt your boss would drop you in it as fast as he could too.
We live in a world where at least one big fleet calls DAFaid to change trailer light bulbs, because ‘drivers mustn’t tamper with their vehicles.’
I’m not saying this is right…mind…just the corner that the big corporations painted themselves into
Co-op use DAFaid for this
NewLad:
GasGas:
I wouldn’t advise any driver to change a wheel. If the replacement wheel came off and caused an accident they’d probably send you to prison.There’s now a process for changing wheels involving using a torque wrench, driving a short distance/waiting a while, then torquing the thing up again. Basically if you don’t do it that way you would be judged negligent if it caused an accident by coming off. No doubt your boss would drop you in it as fast as he could too.
We live in a world where at least one big fleet calls DAFaid to change trailer light bulbs, because ‘drivers mustn’t tamper with their vehicles.’
I’m not saying this is right…mind…just the corner that the big corporations painted themselves into
Co-op use DAFaid for this
So you’d have waited for DAF aid to come to you if you was driving the carmans lorry in the above photo.
there’s a photo of a carmans transcon stuck in the desert one christmas day, so you’d wait before help yourself to get out.
3300John:
NewLad:
GasGas:
I wouldn’t advise any driver to change a wheel. If the replacement wheel came off and caused an accident they’d probably send you to prison.There’s now a process for changing wheels involving using a torque wrench, driving a short distance/waiting a while, then torquing the thing up again. Basically if you don’t do it that way you would be judged negligent if it caused an accident by coming off. No doubt your boss would drop you in it as fast as he could too.
We live in a world where at least one big fleet calls DAFaid to change trailer light bulbs, because ‘drivers mustn’t tamper with their vehicles.’
I’m not saying this is right…mind…just the corner that the big corporations painted themselves into
Co-op use DAFaid for this
So you’d have waited for DAF aid to come to you if you was driving the carmans lorry in the above photo.
there’s a photo of a carmans transcon stuck in the desert one christmas day, so you’d wait before help yourself to get out.
Don’t know of any co-op stores near or in the desert, but obviously if I was going to places like that, I would make sure I have spares of the things I can fix. Working for co-op you will get sacked if you change a bulb and get caught its classed as tampering with a safety device your a driver not a fitter and in their eyes not qualified or trained to change them.
change our own tyres get 50 euro a time no hassle
Harry Monk:
scaniason:
When my dad was driving, back in the late 70s, most of the drivers had to call a fitter when they got a flat, despite carrying spares on the unit and trailer. Nothing to do with H&S, but because they were split rims, and were usually full of either tobacco or cb radios, on their way into the country!Proper driver, I probably know him!
If you travelled Harwich - Hook around that time, I’m sure you would 
Harry Monk:
It’s a holistic thing. Tyres are far less prone to punctures nowadays, tyre repair firms are everywhere throughout Europe, we’ve all got mobile phones, we’re all older and less willing to jump up and down on a wheelbrace while clinging on to a TIR cord for a couple of hours.
Or hanging off the side with your fingers through the eyelets or D rings relying on a couple of pop rivets 
Nah, you see thats where the assorted lengths of scaffolding come in handy
bestbooties:
Sort out the best!
Ready for the road again!
[
Fantastic photos…