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631

A League of Their Own

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When football teams run out onto Moscow’s Luzhniki BSA Olympic Stadium at the start of a match, it is a safe bet that few, if any, players realise that the “grass” under their feet was once black and round and fitted to a car. But despite this unawareness, the tyres we deal with every day have a strong connection with the beautiful game; the Luzhniki stadium was one of the sites at which the UEFA trialled the use of synthetic turf several years ago, and was subsequently granted the honour of hosting the first ever UEFA Cup qualifying round to be held on an artificial surface. The synthetic turf gracing the ground at Luzhniki is FieldTurf – a product produced by FieldTurf Tarkett, a Canadian company that, in addition to supplying numerous UEFA and FIFA approved turf installations, also happens to be Credential Automotive’s largest rubber crumb customer. FieldTurf’s requirements currently account for two-thirds of all Credential’s annual output of recycled tyre product.

“We’re quite proud to be playing our part in sporting excellence around the world,” comments Credential Automotive director Steve Patterson. But while Credential’s supply of tyre derived rubber product helps provide a natural feeling yet durable surface for our most popular sport, tyre recycling is much more than just a game for the County Durham based recycling and waste management specialist. Vast quantities of end of life tyres arrive at Credential’s Newton Aycliffe premises each year – Steve Patterson reports that Credential will process approximately 11 million tyres in 2008 – and the company collects tyres plus other automotive waste from fast fit centres, car dealerships, ELV dismantlers, farmers, councils and other tyre collectors in many regions throughout Great Britain, from Southwest England to Scotland.

Credential’s ability to process so many tyres was in 2007 aided by the installation of the “Tyrannosaurus”, reported to be the world’s largest shredder. This machine of Cretaceous proportions was installed in May 2007 after arriving from Finland, and it is “operating well,” reports Steve Patterson. “The machine completed commissioning in August 2007 and will have processed 2.5 million tyres by then end of January 2008.” With a line capacity of 20 tonnes per hour, the equivalent of 3,000 car tyres, the Tyrannosaurus can make short work of end of life tyres. “The processing capacity is very high and depends on the material produced, but at a 50mm tyre chip the machine could process over 80,000 tonnes per annum on a two-shift basis.” Credential’s hardware is able to effectively process 4×4 and van tyres without encountering any of the problems experienced by operators using smaller machines, and Patterson reports that the company is also able to process or find outlets for tyres containing a range of technologies, including run-flat or uncured tyres. He adds that tyres containing anti-puncture sealants may provide a less than satisfactory result should they arrive in sufficient quantities, but at present very few of these appear in the mix so they pose no problem.

The output from Credential Automotive’s facility, or at least the one-third not taken by FieldTurf, is supplied to numerous rubber manufacturers, whose end products include mats, flooring, insulating products and children’s playgrounds. According to Steve Patterson, Credential is easily able to sell everything it produces. “We currently have outlets for all of our outputs, he says. “Most are contracted and a proportion is placed on spot markets. We balance the risk/reward of contracted supply and spot markets constantly.”

The ETRMA reported last July that the UK was Europe’s leading tyre recycler, with 93 per cent of tyres previously destined for landfill now diverted to various forms of recycling. While Credential, as a past winner of the Motor Traders Association ‘Environmental Award’ and NTDA TAFF environment award nominee, is recognised for its environmentally sound policy and practices, Steve Patterson believes that legislation remains fundamental to our high recycling levels. “In general terms most people within the industry recognise the benefits of recycling a high quality product like tyres, but you need legislation and strong enforcement to push the minority into compliance because they wont do it for the sake of it.” He adds: “While a number of responsible producers take an active interest in what happens to scrap tyres, a number do not, and it is economics that drive the market. If the landfill ban was not enforced then the UK would still send a higher proportion of tyres to landfill, or at least until the landfill tax made it uneconomic.”

632

New Reports On UK Tyre Market Size

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One thing that almost everybody agrees on in the UK tyre industry is the lack of readily available, meaningful statistics on the size and value of the tyre market. The NTDA has teamed up with research company GfK to produce the "World of Tyres" – an exclusive members' newsletter which includes a regular review of retail sales data on the passenger car, 4X4 and light commercial tyre market.

633

Manufacturer Silence About Tread Depth Dangers Criticised

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The continued lack of public recognition some UK based tyre manufacturers give to wet condition grip performance in tyres with a tread depth below 3mm has been criticised by the chairman of the NTDA’s Tyre Wholesalers Group. Ashley Croft told a gathering of senior managers from the UK tyre industry that: “At the time of the 3mm campaign launch, one of the reasons given for non-involvement from a particular manufacturer was the potential for flagging-up a Duty of Care issue in the USA on the basis that it should have been aware of the wet grip performance drop off prior to this, and should have alerted the public accordingly.

634

‘Manufacturers…Drive the Grey Market’

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Almost six years to the day after the Levi versus Tesco ruling (see page three for more on this), Kumho UK managing director, Steve Tidmarsh, used his recent NTDA Tyre Wholesalers Group (TWG) speech to address the subject of grey importing in a refreshingly direct fashion. “The grey market,” he observed, “always seems to increase when supply rates are poor.” He continued: “For some reason this enrages wholesalers, but let us be fair, it is often exploited by them. However, to balance that, it is also right to state that it is the manufacturers who drive the grey market and currently with the weak US dollar products are a-plenty,” he explained.

635

Fair Distribution of Service

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This year’s NTDA Tyre Wholesaler’s Group (TWG) lunch in November continued in the tradition of recent years, with thought provoking speeches on interesting industry topics. TWG chairman, Ashley Croft focused on the subjects of manufacturer distribution and tyre safety policy.

Referring back to his comments on the subject 12 months ago, Ashley croft opened by querying Christian Salvesen’s intention to become the sole logistics supplier to the tyre trade: “I wonder if their report of a 19 per cent profit fall, attributed to higher than anticipated start-up costs on distribution deals with tyre makers, has caused a rethink to the attractiveness of their stated strategy. From the point of view of companies receiving delivery from this logistics supplier, they still have a long way to go before they reach the level of quality of distribution achieved by any of the UK wholesalers.

(In June Tyres & Accessories reported that profits at Christian Salvesen fell 19 per cent, at least partly due to the higher than expected start-up costs encountered in its distribution deal with Goodyear Dunlop and Continental Tyre Group in the UK. At the time, the news extended the UK transport division’s operating losses to £4.6 million for the year. By 2 October, Groupe Norbert Dentressangle had offered to buy it.)

Ashley Croft continued: “Kwik-Fit also believe they can distribute their own requirements more efficiently and at less cost than outside logistics companies with their planned new distribution hub. As wholesalers, we must be careful to ensure we do not then further subsidise the manufacturers true cost of distribution to smaller retailers. We have already witnessed a narrowing of terms between smaller retailers, and ourselves that I do not believe truly reflects the cost to serve. I am sure that in the negotiations between manufacturers and their logistics suppliers, rates will be increasing rather than decreasing, and should be passed on in accordance with the high cost that small volume deliveries incur.”

‘It’s a penguin; it won’t fly’

From here Croft drew parallels with the 1991 proposed generic ‘Tread Carefully’ campaign, designed to promote the publics awareness of 1.6mm tread legislation: “I believe that Chuck Davies, sales director for Michelin at the time, was being prophetic about our industry in general when he made his well publicised comments about this campaign, ‘it’s a penguin; it won’t fly,’ in a reference to the apparent impossibility of the manufacturers working together and with the various sectors of the industry.” Croft observed: “The politics of our various organisations and the members they represent do not apparently permit working together for the common good.” And this, of course, has implications on recent projects to paint an accurate picture of the UK replacement market: “Our net replacement market in the UK has, I believe, grown substantially over the last two years – and I recognise that this is not shown in ERMC statistics.”

(At this point it is worth mentioning that NTDA members have recently been cooperating with one of the world’s leading market research firms, GfK, to produce what sound like a fascinating sell-out market report. Initial conversations with GfK representatives suggest that this project could represent some of the most accurate “sell-out” sales data so far seen on the UK market, going down to size and speed rating. Initial results are expected in January 2008. Keep an eye on Tyres & Accessories magazine and www.tyrepress.com for more details on this).

Ashley Croft continued his speech: “Tyre manufacturer surveys tell us that ‘brand,’ and ‘trust in the brand’ are major influences upon the decision making processes of tyre buyers. The dramatic growth of brands such as Linglong, Jintong, Infinity, Maxxis, Sunny, Wanli et al would suggest there is a different over-riding influence; that of price! Let me be perfectly clear: as a wholesaler, I would much rather sell a major brand product at £75 than a budget brand product at £25. Personally, I am also not happy to see such a low market share position held by the major brands. There is, however, a seemingly insatiable appetite for budget brands in this country, a point that does not appear to have been missed by the ETRMA.

Concluding Croft said: “Until such time as we are able to work together as a cohesive industry we shall never be able to effectively communicate our message to the buying public…I believe we should take the comments of Chuck Davis from 1991 as a challenge, and not an epitaph.

636

Brityrex 2009 Appoints Steering Committee

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Peter Gaster, group managing director of KRT and current chair of the NTDA, has agreed to lead a new steering committee, which was formed by the NTDA to support the organisers of Brityrex in the run-up to Brityrex 2009. Alan Baldwin, David White, Ashley Croft and Darren Duguid are just a few of the other well known industry names that have committed their time to the project (full list below). “We are delighted to attract such a wide range of talent from our sector and I look forward to working with the group to further develop this vital show for the UK tyre industry,” Peter Gaster commented. The first meeting of the steering group will take place in London on Thursday 6 December.

637

Britain’s Oldest Tyre Salesman Dies at 86

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BITS has expressed its sadness in announcing the death of Ron Costella, who the company claims could be Britain’s oldest tyre salesmen. Costella, who worked for BITs for many years had his own business in Bristol before joining Brian Jenkins at Harlequin Tyres. The funeral will be held on Friday at Canford Crematoriam at 14:30. The family have requested no flowers, but donations to the MacMillan Trust. As a mark of respect the NTDA has postponed its South West Golf Day which was scheduled for Friday in Saltford.

638

Ashley Croft Returns to Stapletons as a Consultant

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Former managing director, Ashley Croft, has returned to Stapleton’s to act as a consultant with special responsibility for working with the management to further develop Stapleton’s as one of the country’s leading tyre wholesalers and retailers. In February Croft resigned as Warehousing, Logistics and Wholesale Sales Director of Micheldever Tyre Services, having been involved in the company’s management buy out in February 2006.

At the time he told Tyres & Accessories that the decision to leave was entirely amicable, saying that his original brief was to expand Micheldever’s wholesale and distribution base to a national level and that that project has now been completed.

639

£35,000 Bedfordshire Tyre & Wheel Haul

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Thieves stole over £35,000 of tyres and wheels from a Bedfordshire warehouse last week. According to a report on the NTDA website, the haul includes over 150 top-of-the-range alloy wheels and a selection of high performance Yokohama tyres of all sizes including the Geolander light truck range plus over 40 Z-rated performance tyres. Anyone dealers who think they have been offered any of the stolen stock should contact the NTDA for a complete list of the stolen items.

640

Tyre Industry Takes on the Mark Jenkins Golf Challenge

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At 5.30am on the 4th of June 2007, 8 men in teams of two stepped onto the golf course to begin their challenge. This challenge was to play 90 holes of golf over 5 Championship golf courses in one day in order to raise money for Mark Jenkins who died of Sarcoma, “a cancer of the blood” in Dec 2006. Having only been married in recent years, Jenkins was only able to spend a week with his newborn son, Oliver. This made the men even more determined to succeed in their challenge.

All players took time out of their busy schedules to take part in this event, Royal Birkdale, Hillside, West Lancashire, Formby and Southport & Aindale to raise money for the Sarcoma Research Fund at Royal Marsden Hospital in London. The event was very successful at raising in the order of £10,000.

The group included Stephen Callow, 07/08 Chairman of the NTDA North West, owner of Freeway Taxi Tyres and Callow Car Care on Ormskirk Road in Liverpool. Apart from running a successful tyre retreading factory and MOT and motor vehicle repair garage, Stephen Callow says he enjoys fund raising for such events.

641

UK Europe’s Leading Tyre Recycler

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The UK now diverts 93 per cent of tyre arisings from landfill and leads the way in terms of tyre recycling. However, while most people are pleased to hear that the UK’s free-market approach to tyre recovery and recycling continues to prosper, valid questions about the increased prevalence of secondary fly-tipping and rising numbers of part worn tyres on the market were also raised.

According to the ETRMA, 3.2 million tonnes of used tyres were generated in Europe during 2006, including 486,000 tonnes in the UK and 585,000 tonnes in Germany – the continents two leading tyre markets. The figures, reported by the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) cover end of life tyre (ELT) destinations during 2006. Across Europe 87 per cent of used tyres (up three points) are now recovered. The key European disposal route is energy recovery, a method favoured by the many markets that operate producer responsibility programmes.

And while the UK’s 93 per cent recovery rate for tyres may not be as high as these other nations, the split is much more varied and the he UK surpasses all other European countries – including France and Germany – in terms of recycling. In 2006 254,000 tonnes of tyres ended up in material recovery, while a further 57,000 tones were retreaded. Therefore the UK recycling an impressive 311,000 tonnes of used tyres in 2006.This compares with just 198,000 tonnes in Germany and 239,000 in France. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and Norway, all claimed 100 per cent recovery rates.

642

Michelin to Run Air Fill Up Roadshow

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Michelin’s European ‘Fill up with Air’ campaign is coming to nine UK locations, the NTDA has reported. The roadshow will enable motorists to have their tyres checked and the pressure adjusted for free. DfT statistics show that 6 per cent of all fatal motorway accidents in the UK are caused by under-inflated tyres. In addition, driving with your tyres under inflated by as little as 8psi causes a three per cent increase in fuel consumption. If everyone pumped their tyres up to the correct pressure, UK motorists would save an estimated £1 billion a year in fuel costs.

Michelin’s ‘Fill Up With Air’ roadshow has been running in Europe for a number of years and offers drivers the opportunity to have a free tyre health check conducted by technical experts from Michelin. The roadshow will take place in the following locations:

Ashford 25/26 July
London 31 July/1 August
Banbury 2/3 August
Liverpool 7/8 August
Manchester 9/10 August
Hull 14/15 August
Stafford 16/17 August
Edinburgh 21/22 August
Oxford 28/29 August

643

“Secondary Tipping” Costs Dealers £2 million

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Nearly a third of members responding to the recent NTDA fly tipping survey reported that tyres had been dumped on their premises in the past six months. Of those nearly half involved 20 tyres or more. The total cost of disposal is thought to be around £2 million. In February, Kwik-Fit’s David White spoke of how the retailer spent £250,000 a year secondary tipping disposal costs itself.

644

The End of Cheap Chinese Tyres?

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On 1 July, the Chinese government reduced tax relief on tyre exports, causing those involved in importing or selling Chinese produced tyres in Europe to brace themselves price increase. At the same time, as one industry insider told Tyres & Accessories, market conditions are changing and “you are no longer doing Chinese companies a favour by selling their tyres.” So does this move mean the days of cheap Chinese tyres are numbered?

The Chinese government’s decision to cut its previously high tyre export subsidies from 13 per cent to 5 per cent; and to cut VAT refunds on wheels produced for export from 17 per cent to 9 per cent; is designed to address the Republic’s overwhelming export growth and is attempt to manage its trade surplus. Traditionally, export VAT refunds have kept export prices low for tyremakers and tyre and wheel component suppliers exporting out of China. Now, however, according to an Ernst & Young report released 20 June, “any change to a VAT refund rate will impact the prices charged on export goods as well as the profitability of exporters.”

645

Profitable Vibration Problems Overlooked

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Vibration problems are one of the most difficult problems to solve and because of this, they often gets the ‘head in the sand’ treatment. The NTDA has recognised this and has highlighted the vibration issue in their recent Service Bulletin 06/07 (copies are available from the NTDA offices)

In the past, to solve a vibration problem that balancing alone does not fix, it has been done through a process of elimination/ trial and error. This can be very time consuming and more often than not a vibration problem still persists.

Pro-Align suggest that the Hunter Road Force Balancer puts an end to guess work and can not only save you time and money, but can also provide an additional profitable service for your business.

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