🛞 Truck Wheel Detachment Alert for Winter

❓ What's happening?

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is running a "Campaign to Prevent Wheel Detachment Accidents on Heavy Vehicles" from October 2026 to February 2027 with industry organizations, because such accidents tend to rise in the season when heavy vehicles switch to winter tires. In FY2025 there were 128 wheel detachment accidents involving heavy vehicles, 8 more than the 120 recorded in FY2024, and MLIT states that further measures are urgently needed. A study and analysis panel on preventing heavy-vehicle wheel detachment, set up in February 2022, found that on many of the vehicles involved, rust removal and cleaning during tire removal and fitting, application of lubricant to the relevant parts, and checks on whether the wheel nuts turn smoothly had been inadequate. On the maintenance side, re-torquing of wheel nuts and checks for loose nuts during daily inspections were also not being carried out reliably. In FY2025, roughly half of the accidents occurred in the three winter months from November to January, more than half happened within one month of tire removal and fitting work, and more than 90% involved the left rear wheel. The campaign uses flyers, posters, social media and training to inform transport operators, tire shops and maintenance businesses about correct procedures, asks management at large trucking companies to share the risks internally, and promotes the adoption of wheel detachment early-warning detection devices.

👥 Who is affected?

• ●Foreign drivers operating large trucks or buses for transport companies
• ●Foreign staff at tire shops and vehicle maintenance businesses who remove and fit tires
• ●Transport operators that own or run heavy vehicles, and their management
• ●Everyone who shares the road with heavy vehicles in winter — drivers, pedestrians and cyclists

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

Foreign workers are an increasing presence in Japan's logistics and road transport sector, so this campaign speaks directly to the daily routines of foreign drivers of heavy vehicles and of staff who remove and fit tires. Because more than half of FY2025 accidents occurred within a month of a tire change and more than 90% involved the left rear wheel, the weeks right after switching to winter tires are when daily checks for loose wheel nuts matter most. Rust removal and cleaning, applying lubricant, checking that nuts turn smoothly, and re-torquing at the prescribed time are usually explained in Japanese work instructions or in-house training — if the terminology is unclear, ask your site supervisor to confirm. Even if you never drive a heavy vehicle, it is worth knowing this risk when driving or walking behind or beside large trucks in winter.