Vellco Tyre Control recent took delivery of two brand new “60-registered” MAN 6×2 Tractor Units utilising unique EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) technology designed for Euro 5 engines. But for the company that began trading in 1950 the purchase was more than just a infrastructure investment, it was also something of a celebration of the fact that during 2010 the company has been celebrating 60 years of trading.
Australian tyre life-cycle management specialist, Brad Bearman of Bear’s Tyres has suggested that his Bear’s Tyre Tracker product could help fleets in the country reduce fuel wastage. “It is an unfortunate fact that the neglect of tyre maintenance is directly attributable to unnecessary fuel wastage, particularly for long haul carriers that spend most of their time of the road," said Bearman.
Having recently centralised its distribution activities on Trafford Park, Manchester, Exide Batteries has just completed a six figure refurbishment of its distribution centre that will virtually double its stockholding to 150,000 units. The warehouse’s footprint has increased 25 per cent to 23,000 square feet and the facility now has 3,500 locations compared to the original figure of 1,920. Exide reports this increase was largely achieved through narrowing aisle width from 3.2 metres to 2.3 metres, a measure that in turn necessitated the replacement of its existing fleet of standard reach trucks with narrow aisle, articulated types better suited to this new environment. Existing racking was further supplemented by new installations with nine tiers instead of six in order to maximise utilisation of roof space.
Less than two weeks after former Grouptyre member Broadway Tyres went into administration, new owner Traxx Tyres has announced its purchase of the company’s assets. Tyres & Accessories understands that Traxx Tyres, which is new to the UK market, is connected to successful tyre wholesaling in Australia. It is fair to say that Traxx has taken the British market by surprise with its first UK acquisition, reportedly outbidding competing offers for Broadway Tyres. Sources close to the negotiations told T&A that Broadway will not be a member of Grouptyre under its new ownership and that instead the national wholesale operation will be running its own logistics operation from High Wycombe in order to maintain continuity of supply to its customers and in competition with Traxx Tyres.
North Eastern Tyre and Exhausts has set aside £2 million for a two-year growth strategy centring on its wholesale division. As a first phase of this strategy the company has acquired a 69,000 square foot warehouse in Stockton for its NE Wholesale Operation. The storage site relies on 1400 stillages and three forklift trucks to manage its stock base of 100,000 of tyres, and next on the company’s agenda is to invest in state of the art automated technologies which will enable faster picking and stock optimisation.
For the past three years Pirelli has served as control tyre supplier to the British Superbike (BSB) and Supersport Championships, providing riders with a range of its Diablo tyres, some 5,500 of which are supplied and fitted over a typical race weekend by a team of 17 tyre technicians. Series organiser MotorSport Vision Ltd has now confirmed that Pirelli will continue in this role after successfully bidding for the supply tender covering the 2011 to 2015 seasons.
Genan A/S has appointed Jens Ole Bahr to the role of director/COO effective 1 October 2010. Bahr will have the responsibility for production, logistics and sales in the Nordic countries and the UK. He previously held the position of CEO at Esbjerg Farve- og Lakfabrik A/S.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems is relocating its North American Headquarters and distribution centre, reports Tire Review. The move from Hartville, Ohio, to Fairlawn, Ohio, allows space for further expansion, greater warehouse capacity and more efficient logistics, the company said. “This was a difficult decision after 80 years in our Hartville location,” said Ydo Doornbos, managing director of Trelleborg Wheel Systems Americas Inc.
Recently-recruited Bridgestone Midlands area sales manager, Darren Hill, recently won two new accounts to the company. Freelance Haulage, based in Boughton, Nottinghamshire – is a specialist haulage and transport company running 10 vehicles and 20 trailers- has changed to new Bridgestone product, via local Bridgestone Truckpoint dealer Tanvic Tyres. Chris Porter, Freelance’s managing director, gave the reason for the change as “the anticipated longevity of the Bridgestone product, coupled with excellent value for money.”
Yokohama has announced that it will raise its North American passenger and light truck tyre prices by 8 per cent on 1 December. The increasing raw materials, manufacturing and logistics costs are cited as the reasons behind the price hike.
Japanese racing talent will go head-to-head with some of the world’s best touring car drivers when the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) returns to Okayama, Japan, on 31 October, 2010. The home race of official tyre supplier Yokohama will have four local drivers competing, equalling the 2008 record for the most Japanese entries in a WTCC race.
NFT, a leading provider of time critical logistics solutions for the food sector, has changed its tyre management solution to Tyre Maintenance Ltd, a part of the Bandvulc Group. The change sees NFT adopt a policy fitment of Bandvulc tyres and retains the majority of service operators as previously.
For NFT, David Seaton, Fleet Engineer commented: “Tyre Maintenance and Bandvulc have indirect links with NFT currently in servicing many of the same fleet customers as we do. It made sense both operationally and economically to utilise this synergy and to bring operations within the same group of companies.”
Nankang Rubber Tire Corp., Ltd will increase prices on all its Nankang branded product lines by up to 7 per cent, the company told Tyres & Accessories in a statement dated 20 October 2010. The price hike is scheduled to take effect 1 November 2010.
An important personnel change took place at Pirelli Tyres Ltd on October 1, namely Chris Evans’ appointment to the position of director of Truck Business, UK. In his new role, Evans will report directly to national managing director Dominic Sandivasci and functionally to the company’s headquarters in Milan.
For a third consecutive year Michelin Americas Truck Tires has been chosen by the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) Land & Maritime supply centre as recipient of its Best Value Award. The US Department of Defense’s largest logistics combat support agency selected again Michelin for this honour on the merits of its performance in supplying tyres to every branch of the US military.
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