Tenneco Automotive is embarking on a new safety campaign called ‘Testing Days on Tour.’ The manufacturer is putting a fleet of testing vans on the road to travel across Europe, testing motorists shock absorbers, springs, exhaust systems and catalytic converters checked, free of charge at participating garages.
Pirelli have appointed Elite Garages as their recommended Motorsport Tyre specialist for the Pirelli PZero Corsa road/track tyre.
The Pirelli Corsa is described as the ultimate extreme performance tyre. It has been designed for enthusiasts who take their road car on the race track whether for a track day or for club racing allowing them to maximise their cars’ performance, without the need to change wheels or tyres when moving from road to track.
The Pzero Corsa is the successor to the renowned PZero C tyre and has a directional and asymmetrical tread pattern. The tyre will be available in nine sizes for 17 and 18 inch rims and carries a Y speed rating. Being a street legal ECE homologated racing tyre, the Corsa offers a level of performance not seen in standard road tyres, claims Pirelli.
A third of garages, tyre dealers and tyre repairers have had old tyres illegally fly-tipped at their site, according to a new survey published by the Environment Agency. Around 10 per cent said that it happened on a regular basis. The survey questioned 225 randomly selected garages and tyre firms about their knowledge and experience of tyre disposal. According to the Agency, fly tipping is usually carried out by cheap, unregistered companies that are operating illegally. Illegal disposal costs the industry, local authorities, the Environment Agency and landowners around £2.5 million a year, the report added.
Beissbarth UK has been awarded the Institute of Transport Management’s (ITM) ‘UK Company of the Year 2004/5’ accreditation.
This is the second award to be received by the company within the space of six months. After winning the industry’s equipment provider award of 2004 ‘Best Garage Equipment Provider.’
Crypton Technology Group has relaunched the Wheelforce brand with the introduction of a range of high performance wheel balancers and tyre changers. The new range is to be sold exclusively through Unipart Automotive, which includes Partco, Brown Brothers, Serck Intertruck, Plunketts and Express Factors.
Recent research carried by car care company, motoreasy has found that one in eight vehicles has at least one illegal and potentially dangerous tyre. Based on more than 1,000 tyre inspections taken at a number of the company’s approved independent garages across the UK. According to the research a further 24 per cent of tyres had tread so close to the legal requirement, a replacement would be needed “imminently.”
Regionally, Londoners were found to be the worst offenders, with a fifth of the cars tested running on tyres below the legal limit. In contrast, motorists in Scotland had the highest pass rate with only 6 per cent of cars in need of a replacement tyre.
The current legislation requires tread depth to be at least 1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the width of the tyre. This rule also applies to the spare tyre. Even so 17 per cent of those inspected were illegal, or would be following what the company describes as “a short usage.”
Quite apart from the obvious safety benefits of having correctly fitted tyres (shorter stopping distances, reduced likelihood of aquaplaning), according to this research, drivers are foregoing the main financial benefit of using safe tyres, i.e. improved fuel economy. Not to mention the legal costs: three penalty points and a fine of up to £2,500 per tyre.
“Added to this, insurance companies are within their rights not to pay out on claims if the vehicle insured is not in a roadworthy condition. It’s shocking that so many motorists seem to ignore the conditions of their tyres – something that should ideally be checked every fortnight,” commented Motoreasy managing director David Gerrans adding: “A simple method of checking the tread is to use a 5 pence coin. Slot an upside down coin into the tread of the tyre and the depth should come up to the top of the Queen’s crown. If you don’t reach the crown, it’s likely your treads are nearing the end of their life and should be replaced.”
If Motoreasy’s research is correct, millions of drivers are failing to meet the minimum legal standard. In light of this, it makes the manufacturers and UK trade associations attempts to introduce a three-millimetre minimum tread depth look a fair way off.
The UK’s first “DIY garage” has just opened its doors in Aberdeen. The new workshop facility is targeted at those who enjoy carrying out motor vehicle repairs, but don’t have access to the necessary tools or facilities.
A long-running civil strike in Northern Ireland, that began earlier this year, has had a “devastating effect on the industry,” say market representatives. The dispute has had adverse affects on the operations of the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency Northern Ireland (DVTA) which handles all MOTs and HGV tests and there is call to privatise all vehicle testing.
In light of the recent ‘Which?’ report criticising the quality of MOT testing the emphasis has once again been drawn to what the industry and government can do to improve standards. Computerisation appears to be the government’s answer to improving the quality of the MOT test, but what will this mean for those at the sharp end of MOT testing?
Industry members are becoming increasingly concerned by the imminent arrival of MOT computerisation. However, government association representatives have contradicted these uncertainties by claiming that historically this was not the view of the trade. The Vehicle Operating Service Agency maintains that computerisation was introduced in accordance with the trade’s past response that it was the answer to improving the standards of the MOT test. Whichever side of the argument you are on one thing is certain – MOT computerisation is underway and will set the standard for future changes to build upon.
VOSA has been condemned for continuously delaying the delivery of the computerised system, and this in itself is increasing concerns about the system’s impact on businesses. The official line is that testing of the computerised system has been delayed by “slippage in SBS software.” VOSA spokesperson Miranda Roberts explained: “We have completed trial stage one of the introduction process and are currently installing the equipment into five test stations and 38 MOT garages. We will then begin a wider roll out involving more stations before the system goes live before the end of the year.” The agency predicts the roll out will take about six months to complete. The agency openly admits that some garages are experiencing problems with the software, and so VOSA is trying to make sure the equipment “fulfils all the requirements and is as effective as possible.”
When the system is cleared of all its glitches all 19,000 MOT testing stations will be provided with PCs, monitors and printers, and gas analysers will be fitted with a smart card reader. The equipment will be connected to a central database of vehicle information, test results and details of authorised examiners and testers. Access to the system is designed for authorised users only, via electronic smart cards and a password, however anyone with any computer experience knows how hard this method of security is to maintain in a hectic and pressurised work place.
The majority of mechanics disapprove of computerisation because of the cost and the fact that it has been forced on them, but more simply because it means change. Upgrading equipment will be a cost they didn’t budget for, although installation of the equipment is free, the consequences such as updating equipment are not.
The RAC is putting pressure on garages to provide free tyre pressure gauges in order to help prevent accidents. According to the RAC, only one in three motorists check their tyres before a long journey, despite the obvious safety risks associated with wrongly inflated tyres.
A team made up of tyre fitters from Elite Garages of Horsham and Broadway Tyres of High Wycombe demonstrated their high speed skills by winning Michelin F1 Pitstop Challenge at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
MAHA UK has appointed Peter Clarke to its sales team. Mr Clarke will now be responsible for providing support to the company’s distributors in central and north west England, and in promoting the sale of its commercial vehicle test lanes.
Mr Clarke boasts years experience in the garage equipment industry, having worked for Brown Brothers’ Garage Equipment Division, Gemco and Trojan Garage Equipment in south Gloucestershire.
Commenting on Mr Clarke’s appointment, Kevin Howard, director of sales and marketing, said, “We are delighted to have Peter as part of our team. His previous experience in the garage equipment industry will aid MAHA’s continuing success in supplying quality test and inspection equipment to garages and motor manufacturers. He has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the motor industry which will naturally be a great benefit to MAHA.”
The tyre trade has been buying and selling tyres for over 100 years. One might have imagined that it would have settled on a profitable, manageable and structured method of distributing car tyres from manufacturer or importer to retailer by now. However, it hasn’t and one suspects it never will.
Way back in the mists of time life was simpler. The tyre manufacturers supplied their tyres to the vehicle manufacturers and tyres were supplied at the local garages. The number of brands available was limited and people tended to buy what they wanted at the garage displaying their brand’s logo.
In the 1960’s tyre manufacturers would have supply arrangements with local dealers who would agree to take their brand of tyres and then redistribute to local tyre fitters, all at fixed retail prices of course. Then the manufacturers decided that they could deliver, and they cut out the local dealer, they set up their own logistics operations and offered to deliver tyres to anyone who would buy them. The result was chaos.
In the meantime, the network of local tyre wholesalers in the UK was developing. The manufacturers realised that they could not survive delivering just their own brands so they delved into the market with their own tyre wholesale operations.
At the same time there had been the development of a number of regional tyre wholesalers. Of which Stapleton’s had become a national player.The co-operation of strong regional wholesalers across the UK culminated in the establishment of Group Tyre.
Whilst Stapleton’s and Group Tyre dug in for a long war a third player entered the fray. Hampshire-based Micheldever, the sleeping giant, decided to make some moves to expand out of its Southern base. It first bought Southam Tyres, then opened a warehouse at Chepstow, and now Halifax with rumours of interests in the North East being rife. Battle was joined.
To listen to the larger operators it would be fair to presume that no independent had any involvement in the fleet market or the franchised dealer sector. However the independent trader is well aware of the situation and whilst some may be content to work on ever diminishing markets, others may be taking another view of the situation.
It was in September 1937 that Sidney Stapleton founded the company in Watford’s High Street in premises that remained Stapleton’s Head office up until 1970. The company distributed tyres to garages and, when they began to emerge, to specialist tyre retailers. Stapleton’s became active in the retail side in addition to supplying tyres. In 1994 Stapleton’s Tyre Services was sold to Japanese company Itochu. In 1997, Roy Croft stepped down as MD, being appointed non-executive Deputy Chairman. Ashley Croft and Peter Regan (who joined the company from Itochu) took over as joint Managing Directors. Ashley later became sole MD. During this period, Stapleton’s had continued to grow, and the ambitions of the company were exemplified by the construction of a purpose-built headquarters, incorporating a warehouse and offices in Letchworth, Herts and a major distribution centre in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. At this time, Stapleton’s was offering a daily delivery service across most of the UK. It was in October 2002 that news broke that Ashley Croft had resigned as MD for personal reasons, thus severing a 44-year family link with the company. His place as MD was taken by Mike England, formerly Retail Director.
More than half of garages across the UK deliver low standards of service to customers, according to new research published recently. Key car industry figures have met with Consumer Minister Melanie Johnson and Industry Minister Alan Johnson to discuss the problem. The Ministers welcomed a pledge from the industry to sign up in principle to develop a ‘Good Garage’ scheme to tackle the low standards. A recent government-sponsored mystery shopping survey found that 51 per cent of garages missed one or more safety-related defects in cars or items that should have been picked up in a regular servicing. The survey also revealed that, only five per cent of garages sampled carried out a thorough service against the manufacturer’s schedule and were judged to be ‘very good’, · 86 per cent of garages missed at least one introduced fault · 40 per cent of garages missed at least one service item; 51 per cent if the customer was female, 33 per cent if the customer was male; and · 27 per cent of fast fit centres recommended unnecessary replacement of parts.
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