Fegan Transport switches to Conti after budget dissatisfaction

Irish delivery company Fegan Transport has fitted cheaper tyres to its 25 DAF tractor units and 50-plus trailers for years in a bid to save money, but less than satisfactory returns on the company’s investment led to a rethink. Having moved back to premium tyres from Continental, the company says performance and life expectancy have increased; arguably more beneficial in balancing the books than the experiment with lower-cost rubber. “We’d used Continental tyres before, and then found that some of the Chinese tyres coming onto the market were cheaper, but it took us two years to realise that this wasn’t actually the best way to go. In some cases we’d taken the tyres off the vehicles after just 40,000km, because we found that they weren’t delivering what we expected,” reveals Martin Fegan, owner of Fegan Transport Ltd.

“When refurbishing one of our bulk trailers, we decided to fit all Continental super singles,” continues Fegan. “The trailer was on the road six days a week and we were over the moon with the service we got from those tyres. From that trial, we found that we would be wise to use Continentals more extensively.” The company is now getting much improved performance from the HSR2 (regional steer), HDR2 (regional drive) and HTR2 (regional trailer) tyres that are used across the fleet.

As well as the Continental’s tyres themselves, Fegan says he has been impressed by the sales and dealer support. “We were approached by Continental and the local tyre dealer, Modern Tyres, who were able to give us a good deal on the cost of the tyres as well as showing great interest in the tyres performance even after the initial trial.”

Fegan says he is delighted with the performance offered by Continental tyres which are regularly outperforming all other brands fitted. With the majority of routes that Fegan Transport vehicles operate being relatively short runs, durability is as big a factor as longevity, which is where close monitoring of the tyres comes into play.

“When you buy a new vehicle, if you don’t look after it from day one, there is no point starting to when it is three or four years old,” Fegan reasons. “The same rule applies with tyres; if you put new tyres on a vehicle, there is no point going back to them after 10 months, you need to check them every month to be sure of the condition. We keep a close eye on our tyres, we don’t just fit them and forget about them.”