Conti Lifecycle Process Results in Longer Tyre Life for Kent Haulier

Faversham-based Les Knight Transport Limited is one of the biggest container hauliers in the South East, running 23 tractor units and 15 tri-axle skeletal trailers on container work out of Dartford and Purfleet. It also provides a ‘traction only’ service pulling other people’s trailers, which accounts for 20 per cent of its activity. The trucks run throughout the UK with the occasional foray into mainland Europe and each covers around 140,000 kilometres a year.

The company invests heavily in its trucks, all of which are top-of-the-range models from MAN, Volvo, Scania and DAF and all under five years old. When you’re spending such serious money on trucks it’s important that you also do everything you can to ensure they operate as efficiently, economically and safely as possible and tyres play a big part in this.

“We work very closely with Commercial Tyres at Ashford to manage our tyres,” says Sharon Knight, a director of the company started in 1969 by her late uncle Les with a Leyland Boxer removals van. “Their involvement begins with advice on the appropriate tyres to specify when buying a new truck. For our type of operation that’s Continental HSR1 tyres on the steer axles and HDR’s on the drive axle.

“When a tyre goes into service it’s given an identification number and every one of our 186 tyres is individually recorded by Commercial Tyres to give complete traceability. Once a month they come in over a weekend to carry out a fleet inspection and from this I get a report that identifies any potential problems and prioritise them for action. So we know immediately when we have to send a tyre for repair or when tyres are reaching the point of being moved between axles, sent for regrooving or retreading, or are nearing the end of their working life.

“The work that Commercial Tyres do is complemented by the role our drivers play. When they’re out on the road – which can be up to five nights a week – each carries a copy of our tyre management policy. This tells them that our preference is for Continental, the type of tyre we fit, what the correct pressures are, and so on. As a result, if we have to have a tyre fitted away from our operating base, we can be sure it will be in line with our standard fitment.

“Following discussion with Commercial Tyres about our vehicles and the nature of our operation, we’ve also determined a standard tyre pressure setting for all our vehicles. Tractor unit pressures are set at 120psi for the fronts, and between 90psi and 110psi for the lift and drive axle depending on whether they are new, conventional retread, or pre-cured retread. Trailer pressures are set at 125psi.

“They even helped us to upgrade our air compressor as our existing compressor only went up to 100psi and this helps to ensure that we can always maintain the correct pressures. We’re finding that this makes a real contribution to fuel economy, delivering potentially up to 5 per cent better fuel consumption.

“Tyres are turned on the rim around halfway through their life to maximise wear. On the tractor units we only use new tyres on the steer axle and then recut them and move them to the second lift axle. All drive axle tyres are recut. On the trailers we fit only new tyres to the rear axle, then following a recut move them to the middle axle. Retreaded tyres are used on the front axle only, which are lifting axles on many of our trailers.

“Overall we find that Continentals are well-priced tyres that deliver very good value along with good in-service performance. We’re also very fortunate in having a first-class tyre supplier in Commercial Tyres, who do a fantastic job for us. As a ContiNetwork partner they have all the back-up and technical support that you’d expect from a class-leading manufacturer.”