Vehicular traffic noise continues to be a major source of complaint, especially near high‐speed highways. Of all vehicles on the road today, many consider trucks to be the major offender. Engine operating noise, exhaust noise, brake noise, and tire noise each contribute to the over‐all noise level produced by trucks; however, at speeds of 50 mph and greater, which is quite prevalent on today's interstate highways, the noise from tires predominates, provided the truck has a reasonably good exhaust muffler and is in a good state of repair. The lack of an information base of tire noise data available in the public domain has hampered the development of standardized tire‐noise testing procedures and the establishment of highway noise reduction criteria, standards, and regulations. This investigation will provide an inventory of data on representative tires and will develop an appropriate and accurate measurement methodology. The test parameters of this investigation include: tread design, tread depth, type of pavement, speed, and loading. A discussion is presented of measurement and analysis techniques leading to the attainment of (1) peakA‐weighted sound levels, (2)13‐octspectrum data, and (3) directionality information shown as equal sound‐level contour plots for various truck tires.