Why tyre orders arrive in the wrong size, load index or speed rating

The sidewall opens with width, aspect ratio and rim diameter, as in 205/55 R16. Next come the load index and speed symbol. Two tyres with the same first line can carry different loads and run at different top speeds.

Then come the markings buyers skip. XL means Extra Load, a reinforced build. Run flat tyres carry a maker’s code such as ZP, SSR or ROF. A mountain and snowflake symbol marks a tested winter tyre, while M+S alone is a maker’s claim.

Vehicle makers add their own approval marks. MO stands for Mercedes, AO for Audi and N0 for Porsche. A buyer may not need them, but a car that left the factory on them often wants them.

One product page often hides several load indexes behind a dropdown. The default is the first in the list, and a buyer who skims the page gets it.

A buyer who copies a size off an old tyre copies its mistakes. The tyre on the car may have been wrong for years, put there by a previous owner or a tired fitter.

Supplier feeds drop markings. A feed that carries size and brand but not the run flat flag lets a plain tyre into a run flat listing. In the warehouse, pickers match on brand and barcode, and nobody reads the sidewall.

Burying the specification in a product title makes it unsearchable. Each marking becomes a field the shop can filter, compare and print. Make a separate product record for each load index, so no dropdown can default to the wrong one.

Carry the fields through. They belong on the basket line, the order confirmation and the pick note, so the buyer and the picker see the same thing.

Add the direction arrow on directional patterns and the inside and outside label on asymmetric ones. A tyre mounted backwards is a complaint, not a return.

A vehicle search turns a plate, or make, model and trim, into the list of sizes the maker approved. Show those first. Mark any tyre outside the list as not approved for this trim, and ask the buyer to confirm.

Trim matters because one model can leave the factory on different wheels. A heavier or sportier trim can need a higher load index or a different speed symbol. A search that stops at model may show the answer for another trim.

Apply the rules in one direction. A higher speed symbol than the maker’s minimum is usually acceptable, and a lower one is not. The same holds for load index. Check the handbook or the label on the door pillar.

Print the full specification on the pick note, then have the picker read it against the sidewall before the tyre is wrapped. A barcode scan proves the model. Only the sidewall proves the size and the load index.

Photograph each sidewall at the packing bench and attach the photo to the order. When a customer says the tyre is wrong, the photo settles whether it left you wrong. When vehicle details and tyre disagree, hold the order and phone the buyer.

Take last week’s pick notes to the racks and compare each against the sidewall. Whichever field is most often missing from the note is the one to fix first.