Changeover Season Readiness Checklist
A step-by-step checklist for getting the rack, the records, the reminders, and the crew ready before the spring or fall tire changeover rush.
Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.
The changeover rush is the one week of the year when every weakness in a tire storage program shows up at the same time. Sets that were moved without a record update, customers whose phone numbers changed, fees that were never written down, and a torque wrench nobody has checked since last season all surface while the lobby is full. Almost every one of those problems can be found and fixed in the quiet weeks before the weather turns, which is what this checklist is for.
Work through it roughly six to eight weeks ahead of the window you expect for your region, then again in the final week. The items follow the order most shops find practical: reconcile the rack against the records first, clean up contacts and overdue sets, plan reminders and capacity, stock supplies and check tools, and set a daily routine for the rush itself. If you want a number for the staffing items, our free Tire Changeover Rush Staffing Calculator (/tools/changeover-rush-staffing-calculator/) turns your stored set count into technician hours and weeks.
- Walk the entire rack with the storage record open and confirm every physical position matches what the record says.
- Flag any set on a shelf with no matching record, and any record with no set on the shelf, and resolve both before a single reminder goes out.
- Verify a working phone number and, where you use it, an email address for every customer who has a set in storage.
- Pull the list of sets past their agreed term and start the documented notice process now, while rack space is not yet tight.
- Confirm the storage fee owed on each set so the invoice at the appointment matches what the customer was told at drop-off.
- Decide the reminder waves: an early notice that the season is near, a booking prompt when the window opens, and a final nudge to anyone still unbooked.
- Write each reminder with one clear call to action and a direct way to book, whether that is a link, a phone number, or a reply.
- Tie the first reminder wave to sustained daily temperatures for your area rather than to a fixed calendar date.
- Estimate total changeover hours from the number of stored sets and your honest minutes per swap, including the time to find and pull each set.
- Decide how many weeks the rush should run and whether it needs extra hours, Saturday bays, or a seasonal hire to hit that window.
- Open appointment slots across the whole window so bookings do not pile into the first warm or cold week.
- Stock tire bags, tags, labels, valve caps, and wheel weights for the volume you expect, with a margin for walk-ins.
- Check the tread depth gauge, the torque wrench calibration, and the TPMS tool before the first appointment, not during it.
- Agree on a staging routine: pull the next day's sets the evening before and line them up in appointment order.
- Confirm every staff member can look up a set by customer name, plate, or phone number and walk to the right shelf without asking anyone.
- Print or load the changeover record sheet with fields for torque value, pressures set, TPMS relearn, and the technician's name.
- Mark a clear intake zone so every removed set is recorded and tagged before it is racked, even on the busiest afternoon.
- Set an end-of-day check for every rush day: each set touched today has an updated position, a condition note, and a billing status.
- After the rush, list the no-shows and the customers who never booked and schedule a personal follow-up for each one.
- After the rush, count the sets still on the rack against your capacity and write down what to change before the next season.
https://tirekeepr.com/templates/changeover-season-readiness-checklist/Use it in your business, share it with your team, or link to it from your own site.
Also from TireKeepr
- Stored Tire Set Intake Log: A per-set log sheet that records the identifier, customer, rack position, tread depth, fee, and notes for every tire set your shop takes into storage.
- Free calculators