Hub Piloted Wheels; Cracks

Are the trucks in your fleet equipped with hub piloted wheels?  Is your fleet used off road or in vocational application, i.e.; snow & ice control, dump body equipped, etc.?  Any issues with wheels cracking?  At Michigan DOT, we upgraded from open center wheels to hub piloted to eliminate wheel slippage and wheel "wobble" from incorrectly installed tire & wheel assemblies.  The hub piloted wheels solved those two issues very well.  But, another issue arose, cracking.  Not all wheels cracked but we had several failures that could have been tragic.  We had centers break completely out of the wheel, we had wheels that broke and wore into the hub, but we were fortunate to never have a wheel leave the truck.  However, we did find numerous wheels along the highway that had cracked and broken and came off the vehicle.  This is serious stuff.  You don't believe this is serious, Google the internet for cracked truck wheels, there are numerous attorneys advertising to represent motorists who have suffered an unfortunate encounter with a truck wheel that cracked and departed the truck.  So what can you do?  First of all, you need to develop a wheel inspection program.  I mean you need to remove all hub piloted truck wheels, clean them up with wire brush so you can perform a visual inspection for cracks.  Most cracks emanate from the wheel stud holes.  The cracks will travel between wheel stud holes until the entire wheel center is broken loose.  If you find any cracks, replace the wheel.  If the wheel is in good condition, prime and paint it.  Then  purchase Accuride Wheel Guards P/N  5903 from your local truck parts supplier.  See picture above.  Install an Accuride Wheel Guard between the hub and wheel (and between the wheels in dual application).  Torque the lug nuts (retrorque after use).  Document your inspection process, truck unit number, truck mileage, date, etc., in  case there is ever a failure and litigation.  These Accuride Wheel Guards are nothing more than big plastic gaskets.  They provide a seal between wheels and wheels/hubs to prevent corrosion, rust, and rust jacking.  In order to be effective, you must provide a good sealing surface.  Make it policy to replace the Wheel Guard everytime a tire & wheeel assembly is removed from a truck.   Make this wheel inspection a permanent part of your fleet preventative maintenance process.  How often do you inspect? I would recommend starting out annually and adjust frequency based upon your findings.   Like I stated; this is serious stuff..........loose wheels rolling down the highway are very dangerous.  64,000 GVWR trucks that lose a front wheel are guaranteed to make the newspaper headlines.  These scenarios are easily preventable.