It’s two years since Michelin began merging the Tructyre commercial vehicle tyre and service business it acquired in 2017 with its ATS Euromaster heavy tyre operation. Tructyre reports it is now in the process of removing the ATS logo from its service vans and other branded items in order to create a more unique brand identity. In future, the ATS moniker will only be used in the UK by the Michelin-owned car and van tyre and service specialist, ATS Euromaster.
Bridgestone has secured a three-year commercial partnership with vehicle rental company Collease. The deal will incorporate a large fleet of all types of Trailers and Motorised equipment. Collease’s customers include a number of prestigious blue chip companies.
Commercial fleets face a future that presents them with both opportunities and challenges. The growth of online shopping is bringing down the number of bulk deliveries made and requires more refined logistics solutions, autonomous vehicles will soon be an inescapable reality, while the approach of 5G connectivity is opening up new horizons for connectivity and experiential learning. The future also offers opportunities and revenue growth potential within the fleet management market, an industry said to be currently worth US$10.5 billion a year. At the launch of a new pan-European fleet business in November, Jean-Claude Kihn, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region president at Goodyear Tire & Rubber, stated that the company was prepared for this future and looking forward to it.
Santa Claus may have cornered the market on knowing if you’ve been naughty or nice, but Goodyear is confident it can predict the problems a commercial vehicle fleet will face in future. The company yesterday shared how it can identify, and also offer solutions to, these problems at the launch of a new pan-European business.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) says it is extremely disappointed that, once again, the Chancellor has failed to address the urgent need for £150 million to fund truck driver training, and it considers the omission to be a threat to economic recovery.
Temperature-controlled logistics specialist Nagel Langdons is extending the tyre replacement intervals on its four 14.6m longer semi-trailers (LSTs) by more than 80,000km after moving them onto Michelin’s new X Multi T trailer tyres.
Pirelli has made two key appointments to its UK truck department to enhance its offering and ensure more customer focus. Dean Burrells (South East) and Alan Young (North and Scotland) have joined Pirelli as new fleet sales managers.
Since 1 April 2014 the HGV levy has raised more than £44 million from foreign HGVs. Foreign truck operators from 90 countries have purchased more than 1.8 million levies, a time-based charge that ensures all HGVs over 12 tonnes contribute towards their use of UK roads.
Michelin’s services company, Michelin Solutions will introduce a new generation of ‘pence per kilometre’ (PPK) tyre management contracts at the CV Show. The new products will offer customers a contractual fuel saving commitment, available on Effitires contracts when fitting premium low rolling resistance tyres. Michelin Solutions believes the move makes it the first provider in the marketplace to contractually commit to fuel savings on its tyre management contracts.
Netherlands based transport company, Snel Logistic Solutions has completed an internal trial on Goodyear’s Fuelmax range of commercial vehicle tyres. Initial internal results have revealed that tractors fitted with the tyres save one litre of fuel per 100 kilometres compared with the other tyres in the test. Goodyear has been competing hard to win fleet business since the launch of its latest commercial vehicle tyre lines, FuelMax and KMax, resulting in its deal with UK market leader Eddie Stobart in 2014. A year ago Goodyear announced that the FuelMax S had become the “first” steer position truck tyre to attain A-graded fuel efficiency on the EU tyre label.
Having tied up its tyre partnership for the next five years with Bridgestone in April, commercial fleet operator Ryder says that tyre-related breakdowns for its customers have fallen by 28 per cent. The new contract heralded the introduction of a range of initiatives aimed at maximising fleet uptime and lowering running costs, Bridgestone states.
During the course of 2014, Goodyear’s FleetFirst fleet tyre management programme has enjoyed considerable growth throughout Europe. Goodyear Dunlop reports that 75 fleets from nine countries have joined the programme since the start of the year, bringing a total of more than 30,000 additional vehicles into FleetFirst. The new additions to FleetFirst include pan-European fleets based in France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom. Arguably the best-known of these fleets is Eddie Stobart, which operates more than 5,000 vehicles, while another large UK-based fleet to sign up during the year is Turners Soham Ltd, which operates more than 2,500 vehicles.
Leicester-based haulier J. C. Trans (UK) has recorded an 88 per cent reduction in tyre failures per quarter, after adopting a full Michelin tyre policy for its 15-strong fleet.
A focus for Bridgestone at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show has been the extensive additions to its “already highly successful ‘Total Tyre Care’ programme.” Michaël Codron, managing director of Bridgestone Europe’s Commercial business unit, shares that “three new customised tyre management and service” packages have joined the programme. Each of these, he adds, is “tailored to customer needs”. Under this “new and comprehensive fleet management strategy” that Bridgestone is presenting at the IAA, fleet operators receive effective solutions to manage tyre-related costs, maximise their value and thereby reduce the total cost of ownership of their tyres throughout their entire lifetime through the “Advanced Tyre Monitoring Programme”, “Premium Tyre Maintenance Programme” and “Elite Tyre Management Programme.”
Following the completion of a period of transition, and with market volumes on the up, Goodyear Dunlop is aggressively pursuing sales growth, including winning some of the biggest fleets in the UK. Tyrepress spoke about the company’s expansion strategy with Goodyear UK and Ireland commercial director, Marc Preedy at the end of August.
