Michelin grows tyre contract with Huntapac Produce

Michelin has renewed a five-year tyre contract with one of the largest vegetable and salad producers in the UK. Preston-based Huntapac Produce signed the Effitires agreement following a competitive tender which pitched the manufacturer against rival brands. Michelin will continue to fit X Multi regional tyres across the firm’s fleet of more than 190 commercial vehicle assets, which includes 64 trucks, 62 refrigerated trailers, 55 bulk tipping trailers, three curtainsiders and two low loaders.

Huntapac Produce will also implement Michelin’s Effitrailer telematics system on all trailers within its fleet, as part of increased efforts to maximise vehicle uptime. Effitrailer includes a sophisticated tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) which alerts the transport office if the pressure in any trailer tyre drops below a pre-defined threshold, meaning the customer can take action before it results in downtime.

Colin Postlethwaite, cost saving manager at Huntapac Produce, says: “Our fleet makes timed deliveries to major retailers across the UK on a daily basis, and a puncture can have a massive impact on the business.

“Ensuring our tyres are maintained at the optimum pressure is critical; we know that under-inflation has a negative impact on fuel efficiency and can make a tyre more susceptible to damage or sudden failure. We want to avoid downtime at all costs, and Effitrailer offers us an additional level of protection.”

The nature of Michelin’s Effitires contract means Huntapac Produce benefits from a predictable tyre budget linked to fleet activity, all of which work together to ensure its fleet stays on the road and hits targets for safety, reliability, tyre longevity and regulatory compliance.

Huntapac Produce has also committed to specifying Michelin X Multi tyres as original equipment on all new assets joining its fleet.

All tyre husbandry will be undertaken by mobile technicians from Tructyre ATS in Bamber Bridge, who work to extract the maximum performance from each casing. This includes fitting replacements, regrooving, turning tyres on the rim and twinning, as well as sending worn casings back to the Michelin Remix factory in Stoke-on-Trent for retreading.

Postlethwaite adds: “Partnerships in business are very important to us and we went with performance over price. We are confident that Michelin will continue to deliver the best overall value and total cost of ownership when you take into account fleet uptime and fuel efficiency.”

Established in 1942, Huntapac Produce is a fourth generation family-owned business which originally started by supplying local fruit and vegetable markets in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

The firm’s transport division operates up to 24 hours per day, transporting produce back from the fields for processing at the company’s main site in Preston, before being loaded onto refrigerated trailers for delivery to retailers. This supports a farming operation which grows crops throughout the UK, from Suffolk to Inverness, with some tractor units in the fleet covering up to 200,000km a year.