Hunter Engineering Company has granted workshop specialist Totalkare exclusive UK distribution rights for its heavy-duty wheel alignment equipment. Totalkare states that a “commitment to providing comprehensive solutions for the commercial vehicle industry” underpins this strategic partnership, and to ensure a seamless introduction of Hunter products to the UK market, it has “invested significantly in rigorous training for its staff.”
ATS Euromaster has experienced a significant increase in the volume of SMR work it is now completing, with work on brake changes up 27%, commercial vehicle servicing up 41% and the number of MOTs completed increasing by 8%. The tyre and maintenance provider believes a combination of factors is behind the increased SMR workload, and in response, it is hiring new staff and further training the existing ATS workforce.
GB Tyres started its wholesale offering back in 2012 focusing on value truck tyres. The business has grown rapidly in the last 10 years, and has even extended its product range into PCR, agricultural, plant and OTR segments. The business is now sees itself as “easily one of the largest commercial truck tyre wholesalers in Europe”, with a stockholding of more than 80,000 truck tyres and continues to focus on development in the commercial vehicle sector.
ATS Euromaster says it has seen a significant 216 per cent uplift in the requirement for Class 7 MOTs compared with 2020 as fleet managers adapt to longer commercial vehicle life cycles. With the squeeze on new commercial vehicle availability as a result of the war in Ukraine combined with the shortage of semiconductors since 2020, fleet managers have been adapting fleet lifecycles by making their vans work longer before replacement. The Association of Fleet Professionals recently reported that its members were seeing extensions that ranged five to eight years before replacement. As a result, fleet managers are needing to adapt their management of Service, Maintenance and Repair spend and manage MOT requirements.
Varta ran a conference focusing on commercial vehicle (CV) battery technology at the iconic British Motor Museum on 14 June.
With the requirements of heavy-duty batteries changing to meet the modern needs of logistics, fleet and transport industries, Varta has developed a high-end range of enhanced flooded (EFB) and absorbent glass mat (AGM) batteries, to deliver improved reliability, protection from vibration, and reduce total cost of ownership.
The cost-of-living crisis has delivered a silver lining for Absolute Alignment, with the Aldershot-based firm observing that efforts amongst fleets to improve efficiency is driving demand for commercial wheel aligners this year. Commenting that it’s “unsurprising that businesses with extensive fleets of commercial vehicles are paying more attention than ever to the benefits of wheel alignment,” Absolute Alignment emphasises that increased fuel economy is “one of the main benefits of regular and accurate wheel alignment.”
PartsXpert Wijlhuizen BV Arnhem is the first company on the mainland of Europe to receive the commercial vehicle brake relining accreditation from TMD Friction, with other countries following soon, including Romania, Poland and additional countries as TMD Friction continues to provide customers with high levels of support across a global basis.
While Tevva’s focus remains trained on building and delivering its battery-electric 7.5t vehicle, testing and development of its hydrogen-electric counterpart continues apace. Four Tevva engineers: Charlie Cordell, Byron Dolman, Ryan Clark and Toby Hurst were doing exactly that recently, with a ‘range test’ of Tevva’s dual-energy prototype truck. The exercise saw the foursome accumulate more than 1,000km (approximately 620 miles) in the 7.5t hydrogen-electric vehicle, driving between Tevva’s London HQ and the Scottish border at Berwick-on-Tweed – England’s most northernmost town.
Iochpe-Maxion increased its sales by at least 29.2 per cent worldwide in the past nine months to 12.79 billion Brazilian real (2.47 billion euros). Since pre-tax profits (EBIT) rose meanwhile by only 4.6 per cent to 1.1 billion real (208 million euros), the EBIT margin of the world’s largest wheel manufacturer fell by two percentage points to 8.4 per cent.
As the world moves away from the pandemic period, businesses are working on ways of reviving themselves. For instance, the transport companies like Migway have been boosted by the tremendous growth of the e-commerce sector. Urbanisation has also contributed to the improvement of roads previously untraversable. At the same time, driver numbers are down, which means those qualified to drive heavy goods vehicles are in demand. And those factors have led to the labour market for drivers becoming increasingly attractive but also complex.
The latest data shows commercial vehicles are issued 10 times more prohibitions three months after their annual test (MOT), according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). And the highlighted examples includes tyres worn to the cords.
The H2Accelerate collaboration has published a new white paper in support of the use of hydrogen in long-haul trucking, based on focus group discussions with truck end-users and logistics providers. The paper sets out the conclusions of a series of focus groups with companies such as Amazon, Nestle Waters, DB Schenker, and Kuehne-Nagel, who have the potential to drive significant market demand for hydrogen trucks and the growth of the sector.
The number of commercial vehicles on Britain’s roads has reached the highest level in history, according to the latest annual Motorparc data, published by the SMMT. Some 5,483,319 vans, trucks, buses and coaches were recorded in operation at the end of 2021, a 4.1 per cent increase on the previous year. Working vehicles now comprise 13.5 per cent of the 40,506,971-strong national fleet following a bumper year for van registrations and a return to growth for trucks and buses.
UK commercial vehicle production grew 92.2 per cent in the second month of 2022, with 8,278 vans, trucks, taxis, buses and coaches rolling out of British factories. However, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) notes that this result compares with the worst February on record last year, when supply chain shortages, new customs processes and prolonged lockdown measures posed significant challenges to production. Production in February 2022 was still 10.3 per cent lower than the 9,233 units built in pre-pandemic 2019.
UK commercial vehicle (CV) production grew 11.3 per cent in 2021, following the worst year on record (dating back to 1933), with 73,600 of the latest vans, trucks, taxis, buses and coaches leaving factory lines, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
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