Continental Industrial Tyres Warns Against Wrong Fitments

Speaking at the Fork Lift Truck Association’s (FLTA) Safety Conference on 25 September, Continental Industrial tyres warned against incorrect fitments and poor maintenance of tyres on industrial vehicles. Industrial vehicles have evolved over the past 20 years, becoming faster, more powerful and being worked harder than ever before. These advancements mean that higher demands are being put on the vehicles only contact with the road, making good tyre selection all the more important.

Gary Banks from Continental Industrial tyres explained why: “Tyres are an essential part of the forklift truck and if the wrong tyres are fitted or the tyres are not maintained properly then this can have serious consequences both on running costs and fleet safety…It is important that the right choice is made when fitting Industrial tyres to your forklifts, especially when lifting heavy loads and when loads have to be raised to a great height.

“Tough cross-ply tyres are suitable for mixed ground surfaces. They are highly resistant to damage and offer good mileage performance and traction when accelerating and braking in arduous conditions.

“Radial tyres are considerably more economical than their cross-ply counterparts. Their excellent economic efficiency shows in long distance use in particular. This type of application can be found frequently at air- and seaports, where vehicles travel at relatively high speeds, such as on the apron, when luggage and other goods have to be carried.”

Continental was invited to speak at the conference following their award for the revolutionary CSEasy tyre from the FLTA earlier this year. As the first ever tyre of its kind to be fitted with a torque wrench and no need for a mounting press, the CSEasy is designed to improve user safety, tyre performance and economy and reduced vehicle downtime.

At the awards earlier in February, David Ellison, chief executive at the FLTA, said: “The CSEasy is a deserving winner because it is a very innovative product which is of great benefit to users in our industry among others. For this reason, it was considered to be the design achievement of the year.”