Anglian Water trials Michelin cold weather tyres

One of the UK’s largest water companies, Anglian Water, will begin a trial of Michelin’s cold weather tyres on its van fleet this winter. The company hopes to find a solution that will ensure its workforce can carry out vital duties safely and reliably in hostile weather. The company looks after more than six million domestic and business customers across the South East, and wants to carry out its operations unaffected by poor weather conditions.

John Harding, fleet maintenance manager at Anglian Water, said: “Our drivers need to be able to take regulatory water samples as well as keeping the water and sewage networks operating all year round, and often in remote locations, so we can’t stop just because of bad weather. Part of our company’s ethos is to have the safest fleet, so we have decided to trial Michelin’s cold weather tyre range for its safety and performance qualities.”

Anglian Water will be testing Michelin’s Alpin A4 Green X and Agilis Alpin tyres, which are designed to provide improved grip on wet, icy, slush or snow-covered roads. The tyres will be fitted to 70 of its vans from October this year when temperatures begin to drop below seven degrees Celsius.

Harding added: “Michelin cold weather tyres are not simply just snow and ice tyres as some people expect and although winter 2011 was visibly milder than previous years with less rain and snow, average temperatures were still below seven degrees Celsius, which is when the cold weather tyres perform best.”

Michelin recommended that Anglian should fit cold weather tyres to its fleet; the two companies have worked together over the past decade in an effort to make its vehicles safer and more efficient. The Michelin tyres will be fitted by ATS Euromaster on 30 new Vauxhall Combos and 40 Vauxhall Vivaros. Results of the test will be analysed next year to determine whether the rest of Anglian Water’s 1,600-strong fleet will be fitted with cold weather tyres in the future.

Dave Crinson, head of Fleet Sales for Michelin, said: “It is encouraging that companies such as Anglian Water are recognising the benefits cold weather tyres can deliver. Michelin understands that businesses need to operate all year round and cold weather tyres can dramatically reduce a fleet’s downtime throughout the winter months.”