Michelin Secures Contract with Travel West Midlands

Michelin has signed what it calls a ‘significant new agreement’ with the National Express Group, under which it retains its existing tyre contracts with Travel Dundee, Travel London and AirLinks, whilst adding Travel West Midlands to its portfolio. Travel West Midlands operates 80 per cent of all commercial services in the region, and the move to a Michelin managed contract will see an additional 1,800 buses operating on Michelin rubber, covering in total the equivalent mileage of 65 trips around the world each week.

The combined contract includes more than 2,400 single-deck, double-deck and bendi-buses operated by the four fleets; each bus will be fitted with the latest Michelin X InCity tyres. Designed primarily for urban and inter-urban applications, Michelin is confident the X InCity can deliver strong performance in start/stop applications. The tyre’s reinforced sidewalls provide increased protection from the type of kerb damage often experienced in urban applications.

“Safety is our number one priority,” comments Jack Henry, engineering director of Travel West Midlands. “Our vehicles are typically on the road 18 hours a day, which places a high demand on the tyres. Michelin is synonymous with its reputation for safety and performance, and we’re confident that fitting X InCity tyres across the fleet will bring additional benefits to both the company and our passengers.

“As part of the contract Michelin will carry out a fortnightly tyre safety inspection on every vehicle in the fleet, ensuring each of our 10,000+ tyres is in suitable condition. Michelin is also investing in new equipment across our 11 depots, guaranteeing technicians have access to the very latest machinery when fitting new tyres and checking pressures,” he adds.

The 16 tyre technicians working within Travel West Midlands’ bus garages are in the process of transferring to Michelin under TUPE, and will undergo comprehensive training at Michelin’s headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent. This will see each member of staff – regardless of previous experience – trained to service and inspect tyres ‘the Michelin Way’. This programme of training is also being combined with a move to develop a number of Michelin ‘Centres of Excellence’ across the Travel West Midlands network.

Michelin’s X InCity tyres represent the first use of Durable Technologies in an urban application and feature “Double Wave” sipes for all-weather grip throughout the life of the tyre. The tyres also feature wear indicators on the sidewalls to make regular fleet checks as simple as possible. Each new tyre will follow the Michelin “Four Lives” tyre process; tyres will be regrooved when the tread reaches 3mm.

Travel West Midlands is currently in the process of taking delivery of 124 new buses for its fleet, each of which has been specified with Michelin X InCity tyres as original equipment.