Blaby District Council switches to Michelin following X Works test set longevity

Blaby District Council in Leicestershire has switched to a Michelin tyre policy across its commercial vehicle fleet following a year-long trial on a set of Michelin X Works tyres. Most of the council’s fleet, which includes a mix of 18 Mercedes-Benz and Dennis refuse collection vehicles (RCVs), a 12.5 tonne road sweeper, two 5.2 tonne Iveco Dailys and a single 7.5 tonne DAF 45, plus 30 light commercial vehicles, now runs on Michelin products. All tyre servicing will be carried out by local dealership Lodge Tyres’ Leicester branch. The council is also specifying the tyres as original equipment.

Blaby District Council’s servicing and fleet manager, Martin Bennett, says: “Blaby District is an area with a lot of narrow roads, meaning that a high proportion of our tyre costs come from repairs to sidewall damage or replacements from kerbing. We decided the best way to test Michelin’s tyres was to fit them to the RCV that had the highest rate of tyre damage – in this case having its tyres replaced sometimes every three to four months.

“I was really impressed by the tyres, and the results of the trial. Michelin’s X Works tyres were more than up for the challenge; in fact, it was 10 months before they needed turning on the rim and they lasted then another 8 months, which was far better than the previous set of tyres on that RCV.”

Martin Bennett is also fleet manager for Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, and after trialling the X Works fitments in Blaby District, changed the Oadby and Wigston fleet of 15 RCVs to a Michelin tyre policy, and is specifying tyres for both districts under the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) tyre purchasing framework.

Both councils have also registered their tyres on Michelin MyAccount – an online portal for companies running commercial vehicles – which gives both fleets access to the Michelin X Works accidental tyre damage guarantee across both replacement and original equipment-specified tyres.

“The guarantee is one of the major benefits of specifying tyres from Michelin. It gives me peace of mind that if one of the tyres suffers accidental damage before the tyre is 50 per cent worn – which we know from experience with other tyre brands can be common in a refuse collection application – I can log in to MyAccount and get a refund determined against the tyre’s remaining tread depth.

“That removes much of the perceived risk of fitting a premium tyre in an environment where the risk of damage is higher. Plus, we benefit from a tyre casing which lasts longer, minimises downtime and reduces the number of wheel interventions during its life in service,” he adds.

The council hopes to regroove as many tyres as possible, extending tyre life by up to 25 per cent, and making full use of the additional layers of rubber built into all new Michelin truck tyres. Once a regrooved tyre is worn to a set minimum tread depth, it will be retreaded by Michelin into a ‘Remix’ tyre – tyres which perform almost identically to a new Michelin fitment, reducing the council’s environmental impact through reduced raw material consumption.