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Kwik-Fit Named Fleet News Top Fleet Industry Supplier

Kwik-Fit has beaten a string of companies responsible for delivering a range of solutions to Britain’s multi-billion pound fleet industry to be named Fleet Supplier of the Year by Fleet News. While Kwik-Fit Fleet has been a regular winner of the Best Fast-Fit Company title at the annual awards ceremony, which for more than two decades has been hosted by the fleet industry weekly newspaper, this is the first time that the company has beaten off competition from other sectors – including the likes of AA Business Services and RAC Fleet – to win the top supplier accolade.

The Fleet Supplier of the Year Award is designed to identify the organisation which has gone the extra mile in providing exceptional service to fleet customers and has ‘stand out’ service levels, products and staff and a commitment to providing the best products or services. The award was presented at a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on March 18 and follows Kwik-Fit Fleet being named the nation’s top fast-fit company for an impressive 16 years in succession in the annual BusinessCar Awards announced earlier this year.

23rd March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Fleet ‘Stimulus Package’ Now Available

Pressure Systems International, along with Wirth Financial and Velociti, is offering a new “stimulus package” program for the trucking industry during the Technology & Maintenance Council’s annual meeting and transportation technology exhibition in Orlando, Florida. The MTIS Stimulus Package is a turn-key, buy four get one free retrofit program that will allow fleets to purchase four retrofit kits, including installation, directly from Velociti, for any axle combination and have an immediate 20 per cent savings on the cost of the MTIS by PSI product. Velociti will perform kit installations at fleet locations.(Tire Review/Akron)

11th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Infleet Adds 500th Tyre Store to Network

Tyreforce (North West) Ltd recently took ownership of three new tyre service locations in the North West, with the company’s Southport store becoming the 500th Tyre Store to be enrolled in the Infleet network.
Tyreforce managing director Martin Burrows commented: “We are already a close working partner of Infleet carrying out specialised tyre service work for the RAC Patrol Vans and providing RAC’s fleet customers with Roadside Breakdown and Tyre Maintenance programmes. We are delighted to be able to register Southport and our other two new HiQ Stores in Preston & Manchester with Infleet.”

The Infleet call centre is managed by the RAC and it’s commercial division (RAC Commercial Vehicle Assistance) to provide assistance for its members and its corporate customers. RAC has an unrivalled reputation as one of the UK’s most progressive motoring organisations and Infleet MD Bill Hall says “[RAC] is the ideal partner to help us handle the additional complications of breakdowns and accidents.”

10th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Fleet & Leasedrive Velo Extend Relationship

Kwik-Fit Fleet’s association with the Leasedrive Velo Group continues with the signing of a new three-year contract to provide a range of fast fit services to the vehicle management group. The independent fast fit operator has maintained a relationship with the company since the days before Leasedrive and Velo merged in 2007, and this latest contract replaces the initial 12-month agreement signed following the merger.

13th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Downtime Costs “Disappear” With Michelin Policy: Fleet Operator

Michelin UK says specialist chilled food distributor FreshLinc is expecting to see a dramatic increase in tyre life and fewer tyre-related breakdowns following a company-wide switch to its tyres and the commencement of a pence per kilometre (PPK) contract. The new agreement sees the Lincolnshire based operator fit a range of Michelin ‘E’ segment regional tyres, with XZE2+ being fitted to the 140 DAF and Scania maximum weight tractor units and new XTE2 and XTE3 tyres across the 160-strong trailer parc as wear dictates. The nature of the PPK structure, comments Michelin, also allows FreshLinc to own the tyres, without the up-front cost of outright purchase.

4th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Sterling Forest Performance Sees Fleet Adopt Uniroyal

The performance of Uniroyal tyres on timber hauling trucks belonging to Cumbrian operator John Miller Limited has prompted the company to adopt the brand for its general haulage fleet. Frequent journeys of up to 20 miles on unpaved forest tracks can be punishing on tyres, and Millers says it is impressed by how well the Uniroyal tyres have stood up to the arduous conditions they’re subjected to. Now the company is fitting them to steer axles on Mercedes-Benz Actros tractors on general haulage work and looking to achieve up to 180,000 kilometres of life before regrooving.

28th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Cut Fleet Costs With Our Tyres, Says Continental

Although 2009 promises to be a challenging time for UK truck fleet operators, Continental is convinced that possibilities remain for fleets to counteract rising financial pressures. The company comments that the selection of the right tyres from the outset. for instance, has been proven to have a considerable influence on operator running costs.

“Our new HTR 2 trailer tyre or HTL 1 Ecoplus make an important contribution to reducing costs in the transport sector,” states Geert Roik, senior vice president Research & Development, OE Truck Tyres at Continental in Hanover, Germany. The economy achieved by vehicles and fleets is influenced heavily by tyre rolling resistance, but as each fleet operator knows from experience it is difficult to determine the influence of tyres on fuel consumption – many external factors, such as the weather, driving styles and different loads play a part.

27th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

New HiQ Director Appointed

Career Tracks, UK News

Goodyear Dunlop has announced the appointment of new HiQ director Juergen Titz, the man who masterminded the successful Goodyear Dunlop ‘4Fleet Group GmbH’ fleet business division in Germany. Titz has also been responsible for leading Goodyear Dunlop Europe´s consumer fleet activities as well as its European Retail approaches. In total, he has 11 years experience within the Goodyear Dunlop group, and has been a key advisor in the growth of the HiQ franchise programme as part of his pan-European role. He will now move to the UK on a full-time basis with his wife and two children.

Mark Brickhill, Group managing director, stated, “Juergen’s experience of fleet management and retail development across Europe will play a key role in Goodyear Dunlop’s drive to grow our own HiQ National Franchise Programme in the UK [covered extensively on Tyrepress.com throughout 2008]. The continued growth of HiQ is a core element of our vision to build strong retail and servicing partnerships across the country”

26th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

BSI Promotes Kitemark Garages to Fleets

The BSI Kitemark campaign is promoting its registered garages to businesses and fleet managers as a way of “eradicating any potential dangers.” According to a press release published on 23 January, fleet managers can be reassured that by using a Kitemark garage the risk of poor repairs has been lowered, not just the cost.

In its report BSI refers to the Health and Safety Offences Act 2008, which came into force on 16 January 2009. This new Act increases penalties and provides courts with greater sentencing powers for those who break health and safety law. Therefore managers who turn a blind eye to maintaining the company’s business cars regularly will be more severely punished. The importance of specifically replacing car tyres was also highlighted.

23rd January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Roman Fleet Switches to ATS Euromaster for Tyres

Roman, a leading UK shower manufacturer and designer, has appointed ATS Euromaster to manage the tyres across its 78-strong fleet of light commercial vehicles and five company cars. The new agreement will see ATS Euromaster provide a complete range of tyre and fast-fit services on a nationwide basis, supporting a mixture of both short and long-wheelbase 3.5 tonne Mercedes Benz Sprinter vans, which are used to deliver shower equipment to retailers. The contract sees the Roman fleet fit a mixture of Michelin, Avon and Hankook tyres being selected as replacements across its vehicles.

Michael Spink, Logistics Director for Roman, commented: “The fleet leasing company we used to use employed the services of ATS Euromaster. When we recently switched to in-house vehicle management we decided to retain their service as it is second-to-none and we could see the clear cost benefits to us.

22nd January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Rifer Gomme Joins Bandag to Cover Eastern Italy

Rifer Gomme, based in Fermo, on Italy’s Adriatic coast, as recently joined Bandag to provide enhanced retreading services to its large customer base in the Marche region and beyond. According to an official statement publishing the news, Rifer Gomme is one of the largest tyre retreaders in central Italy. It is a family company owned and run by Lucio Cudini, with his two sons handling the company’s sales and marketing activities, and his daughter looking after the administrative side of the business.

Rifer Gomme sells new tyres – Bridgestone and other major brands – and retreads for a wide range of vehicles: light and heavy trucks, as well as passenger cars. After working with a different retreading system for a while, the Cudini family took the decision to switch to Bandag.

16th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Extended Fleet Replacement Cycles a Major Opportunity for Kwik Fit

One result of the recession is that fleet operators are prolonging the time they hold onto their vehicles. This is not such great news for used car dealers that previously snapped up the steady stream of three year old ex-fleet vehicles entering the market, but Kwik-Fit says lengthening fleet replacement cycles are providing it with a major business opportunity – tyre consumption rises and an increasing volume of MoTs and service and repair work is required as vehicles move into their fourth year of operation. Yet simultaneously, one of the biggest challenges facing Kwik-Fit Fleet and fleet decision-makers is cost management and the recent, unprecedented increases in the price of tyres.

13th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Hybrid Buses Join London Transit Fleet

A red London bus with a BAE Systems hybrid electric drive train joined Transport for London and Metrobus, one of the city’s principal bus operators, in November. The bus, a double-deck model built by Britain’s Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL), is among 17 hybrid units built by ADL and BAE Systems that will be evaluated in passenger service starting later this year.

16th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

ATS Survey Finds 10% of Fleet Cars Have Tread Below 1.6mm

Almost one in ten cars examined by ATS Euromaster as part of a recent unscheduled tyre safety inspection were found to have at least one tyre which was at or below the legal limit of 1.6 millimetres or another similarly major defect. The surprise car park inspection saw technicians record the tyre tread depth and overall condition of each tyre on 147 cars at a popular conference venue in Birmingham.

Following the inspections, technicians left advice cards warning drivers about their tyre condition. Fourteen vehicles (9.5 per cent) were in red condition, according to the company’s traffic light scale, with one or more tyres at a tread depth at or below the legal limit of 1.6mm, or with a serious defect requiring immediate attention. A further 15 vehicles (10.2 per cent) received ‘amber’ warnings – typically tyres where the tread depth is getting low (2mm or below) or with defects requiring attention. The remaining 118 cars (80.3 per cent) had tyre tread depths above 2mm on all tyres, and no obvious defects.

12th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Named Fleet Van Tyre Provider of the Year

This year’s inaugural Fleet Van awards ceremony in Birmingham saw Continental Tyre Group named as Tyre Provider of the Year. The judging panel evaluated entrants based on a number of criteria, which included: validated performance of the current product range; availability of supply; simplicity of fitment and evidence of the company’s commitment to future development and innovation. Trevor Gelken, Editor of Fleet Van Magazine commented: “We were very impressed with Continental’s performance in all of the judging categories, but the deciding factor for us was the outstanding focus on safety”.

Continental actively promotes safety through its work with road safety and government organisations using initiatives such as the 3mm minimum tread depth campaign. In addition, safety has always been the first consideration for Continental’s research and development teams in developing new product.

4th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors