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Titan Giant Tyre Production Halted Due to Press Mishap

Titan Tire has temporarily halted production of giant tyres at its Bryan, Ohio facility due to what it says is a pressure issue with one of its 53/80R63 curing presses. A build up and release of pressure from the curing press resulted in building structure damage. Fortunately, reports Titan, there were no serious injuries.

Production of the giant tyre ceased on November 23 and the company reports that it will be approximately 10 to 14 days before it recommences, the time required to undertake necessary repairs. Titan expects that certain repair costs will be covered by insurance.

25th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Chain Hopes to Make a Killing with Sudden Death Insurance

Think those worn tyres will do you for a few more months? Perhaps, but in New Zealand a fast fit chain has introduced a product that should make motorists reluctant to fork out for replacement tyres think again. Alongside its tyre range, Tony’s Tyre Service is offering insurance policies covering unexpected death.

24th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

RIAS Supports Tyre Safety Month

Insurance firm RIAS has given its “full backing and support” to Tyre Safety Month, the insurance firm has announced. “Any initiative that helps improve driver safety and reduce the number of accidents on our roads has our full backing and support,” said Janet Connor, managing director at the over 50s insurance services specialist, adding: “It’s vitally important, especially in winter when conditions are worse, to encourage drivers to think more carefully about those small and inexpensive checks that could help save lives.”

23rd October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Insurance Company Owns 5.5 Per Cent Of Nokian

Nokian Tyres has received an announcement, according to which the ownership of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company has increased above the level of five per cent of the voting rights and share capital in Nokian Tyres plc as a result of a share transaction concluded on the 16th October 2008. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company now holds a total of 6,870,657 Nokian Tyres’ shares, representing 5.50 per cent of the company’s 124,831,190 shares and voting rights.

20th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Ride Straight With ProBike

As a firm that specialises exclusively in the supply of workshop tools and equipment for motorcycles and quad bikes, ProBike Ltd is able to fully understand its clients’ particular needs. Therefore it is little wonder that the company has grown over a period of twenty years to become the UK’s leading workshop equipment specialist.

The latest alignment products available from the Northampton based firm are the Probat alignment tool for motorcycles and the Proquat, suitable for ATVs. These German manufactured laser aligners offer, reports ProBike, a very quick and accurate method of measuring motorcycle or ATV wheel alignment. Two separate laser line generator modules project vertical laser beams from the rear wheel forward, striking the screens attached to the front wheel. Viewing the position of these beams on the front screens provides the operator with instant, easily readable information about the vehicle’s current alignment and camber settings.

24th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

More Than Launches ‘Green Driving Technology’

More Than Car Insurance has launched a pioneering new insurance scheme that uses Formula 1-style, in-car telemetry to help British motorists drive in a greener, more efficient and economical way. The innovative service, called Green Wheels, helps drivers understand how their driving style affects the environment by giving them access to information such as their rate of acceleration, braking and the number of short journeys they make. By doing this, More Than hopes to help change the way drivers behave behind the wheel and lower the carbon footprint of the 31 million cars on Britain’ roads.

Dowshan Humzah, Product Director at More Than, commented: “Green Wheels is great news for anyone interested in taking more responsibility for their own carbon ‘tyre-print.’ Furthermore, by helping motorists drive more efficiently the ‘Green Box’ can also help cut the cost of motoring which, with fuel prices rising, is top of many motorists’ agendas.”

22nd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Alldata Celebrates 70,000 Customers, Sets Sights on Future Success

Alldata held a media day event at its headquarters in Elk Grove, California, on April 3, to celebrate its latest accomplishment — 70,000 customers — and to spotlight how the company is helping automotive service professionals boost their business success.

President Jeff Lagges and other company executives discussed how Alldata is reinventing itself for a changing market, and its commitment to providing OEM repair information and business solutions to help automotive service professionals increase their competitiveness, elevate productivity and profitability, and forge stronger relationships with customers.

Lagges pointed out that one of the major components in the company’s success, and its 90 per cent customer retention rate, has been to maintain direct contact with customers, primarily through a direct salesforce. “We measure our success by our customers’ satisfaction,” he said.

29th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tesco Loses Tyre Inflation Court Action

The woman suing Tesco for disability discrimination (see our April 10 report here) has been awarded £1,000 after a court agreed the company’s refusal to allow staff to inflate her vehicle’s tyres was a discriminatory act. Tesco staff had told Jenni Crowly their inability to assist was an insurance and health and safety related issue.

While Mrs Crowly has expressed her delight in the outcome, a Tesco spokesperson commented, “we’re disappointed with the decision and will consider our options.”

24th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

CTNA Makes Healthcare Funds Available for USW Retirees

The United Steelworkers stated on April 15 that Continental Tire North America, (CTNA) has agreed to make US$158 million in payments to a retiree health insurance fund. The settlement is in response to a lawsuit filed by the USW and a number of retirees when CTNA implemented a $3,000 cap on its payments for retiree health coverage, a change that increased monthly health coverage fees for some retirees up to $1000 or more.

“This was an unconscionable attempt by an employer to strip away benefits from retirees who had already paid for them with a lifetime of work,” said USW president Leo W. Gerard. “We couldn’t let that happen, especially given the current shambles of our country’s health care system.” The lawsuit asserted that CTNA’s changes to its retiree health care coverage in April 2007 violated federal law. Last July, Judge Jack Zouhary of the Northern District of Ohio agreed by ruling that the company had no right to reduce or terminate benefits.

17th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

What Does Your Car Colour Reveal?

Does the colour of the car you drive say anything about your chosen profession? Do the police have a bias for blue or undertakers have a predisposition for black?

Car insurance expert elephant.co.uk looked at data from over one million drivers to find out if particular professions prefer certain colour cars and discovered that you just might be able to tell someone’s job by looking at their car.

Blue proved to be the most popular colour all round with a quarter of motorists choosing the calming shade for their vehicle. However, living up to their ‘boys in blue’ name, the colour proved even more popular with the police who are over 7 per cent more likely to drive a blue car than the average motorist.

25th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Nationwide Autocentres Provides Peace of Mind for ‘Grey’ Fleet

April’s Duty of Care law is looming ever closer and time is short for companies to ensure vehicles used for business purposes provide no grounds for the new regulations to be breached. It is expected that businesses will take a keener interest in the verifiable and regular servicing of cars used for work related journeys come April, and to accommodate this anticipated higher demand, independent vehicle servicing and MOT testing chain Nationwide Autocentres has launched a 19 point ‘Duty of Care’ inspection service.

Alarmingly, reports Nationwide, a study released in January found that 60 per cent of privately owned vehicles used for company business were not safe to be on the road. In addition, 52 per cent of companies do not operate a policy of confirming the insurance details of these vehicles, which have in recent times become known as the “grey” fleet. Such an oversight will become a potentially costly one for companies; those failing to implement a Duty of Care process to ensure grey fleet vehicles are fit for purpose could be liable for prosecution should one be involved in a fatal road traffic accident.

15th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Norwich Union Supports Tyre Safety Month, 3mm Campaign

The UK’s insurance services provider, Norwich Union, has leant its support to the TyreSafe-initiated Tyre Safety Month campaign. As part of its press release aimed at raising awareness of winter driving campaign, Norwich Union also promoted 3mm tread depth. The insurer quoted research conducted by MIRA Ltd that shows that tyres with a 3mm tread have 25 per cent better performance than those at the legal minimum of 1.6mm.

11th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Former Caribbean Tyre Workers Protest

Former workers of defunct tyre company Dunlop have protested for the payment of outstanding severance packages. The workers were laid off in 1995 by then owner of the company, Caribbean Tyre Factory. To date, the workers have only received 70 per cent of their severance.

Earlier this year, the Industrial Court ordered the US-based Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company, which took over operations from the Caribbean Tyre Company, to pay more than $10.6 million in outstanding benefits with a February 23 deadline.

However, Carl Kelly, a former manager at the tyre company, said that Carlise Tyre and Rubber Company claimed that local insurance company CLICO was still responsible for the payment of the workers. They are now threatening legal action against CLICO.

More than 240 people are reportedly affected by the dispute.

8th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Fleet Expands its Service to Include Glass Repair

Kwik-Fit Fleet has rolled a new vehicle windscreen repair service. Kwik-Fit centres across the UK are now able to repair vehicle windscreens by injecting a liquid acrylic resin into the damaged glass. The resin is cured by the use of long wave ultra violet light. The call-in service, which by the end of 2007 will be available at all 670 Kwik-Fit outlets, sees Britain’s largest independent fast-fit giant on target to win a significant slice of the windscreen repair sector.

The glass repair market is presently dominated by just a handful of players and is estimated to be worth £310 million a year with the average value of each of the approximate 2.8 million jobs being £121. The windscreen repair sector is estimated to account for 25-30 per cent of work and is estimated to be worth around £38 million with the average cost of each job being £50.

Repairs at Kwik-Fit centres will typically take 20-30 minutes. While the majority of the repairs are via insurance companies, fleets account for about 15 per cent of work.

8th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Nail in Tyre Blamed for Hammond Crash

A nail caused the tyre failure that lead to the accident that nearly killed Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. According to a BBC report the “catastrophic disintegration” could have been prevented was it not for the “the inability to spot the damage to the tyre.” As a result the 88-page report criticised the Top Gear team for not having anyone present “with sufficient knowledge to assess the adequacy” of the safety checks.

Much of the BBC’s report into Richard Hammond’s crash focused on the role tyres played in the crash. New Hoosier P225/50 ZR15 (front) and P275/50 ZR15 (rear) tyres had reportedly been bought for the Vampire jet car involved, shortly before the crash. There was no suggestion that there were any manufacturing problems with the tyres, but rather that an object such as a nail caused a “catastrophic failure” that resulted in the front off-side tyre being “comprehensively destroyed.”

17th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors