Conti Releases Winter Guide for Europe Bound Drivers

UK and Irish truck and coach operators driving on Continental roads this winter can benefit from a new guide Continental Tyres has released. The guide outlining the various tyre requirements they can expect to encounter in Europe has been updated for the 2009/2010 winter season and can be downloaded free from Conti’s UK website.

Summarising the contents, Conti notes that countries such as Austria, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland have strict legislation that determines when winter tyres are required and when snow chains have to be fitted. And while each country has different requirements, the guide proposes a number of actions to make sure vehicles are safe on the roads when dealing with wintry conditions. 

For Truck operators:

Firstly, Continental recommends all truck tyres should have a minimum remaining tread depth of at least 4mm across all axle positions on a tractor unit.  Furthermore, trucks should be fitted with dedicated winter tyres when travelling through hilly regions of middle Europe that are snow covered and where drivers may encounter uncleared roads, roads covered with significant amounts of ice or snow or winding and sloping roads that are cold and wet. Finally, to ensure maximum safety and vehicle performance, Conti recommends that winter tyres should be fitted in order of priority on trucks as follows, to the drive axle, to the steer axle and then to the remaining axles such as lift or trailer axles.

For coach operators:

Continental recommends that, due to the increased safety requirements on coaches travelling to the Alps or to Scandinavian and Baltic regions, all axles should be equipped with winter tyres. This is, the manufacturer says, particularly important on coaches as coach operators often fit steer tyres to all axles. Therefore either a specialist winter steer tyre should be fitted all round or preferably to the steer axle and a specialist winter drive tyre on the drive axle.

“Much obviously depends upon local weather conditions” said Jill Rodgers, marketing manager – Commercial Products.  “While most situations can be covered by our comprehensive range of winter tyres, it’s become increasingly important in recent years for operators to understand that regulations vary considerably between countries and that penalties for non-compliance can be severe.”

Ms Rodgers continued; “To avoid confusions we clearly define our winter tyres by marking the sidewalls with a snowflake symbol and the word Winter”.

In terms of its own product portfolio, Continental offers the HSW (Heavy Steer Winter) and HDW (Heavy Drive Winter) tyres in a range of sizes. HSW and HDW tyres also carry the ‘Scandinavia’ label, indicating that they are suitable for tough winter applications. The angled tread lugs on both tyres are smaller, while the optimised groove geometry and closed shoulders on the HSW are designed to ensure a precise steering response, good aquaplaning prevention and straight-line stability.