The effect of pavement surface deterioration on pavement service life has been studied for a set of case studies. The Swedish mechanistic empirical design method is used in order to analyse the pavement performance under dynamic moving loads while the longitudinal profile unevenness is updated on yearly basis. The surface evolution assumed in the case scenarios are chosen in relevance with the general trend of surface deterioration in Swedish road network. Results from the case studies indicate that the pavement service life is highly affected by pavement surface deterioration, especially for pavement segments with high traffic. Moreover predictive maintenance for high traffic road segments might be beneficial as it increases pavement service life and decreases the user related costs, e.g. vehicle fuel consumption.