It was a good weekend for Dunlop on 7/8/9th October at Brands Hatch, with Dunlop-shod riders taking all the available two-wheel titles.
Gregorio Lavilla, on an Airwaves Ducati, clinched the Superbike championship with a first and second place in the two races; the first-ever Spaniard to win the title.
Kwik-Fit Fleet is poised to launch a business offensive aimed at the small and medium-sized fleet (SME) sector and increasing the profile of the company’s fast-fit and Business Drive Card services.
As part of this initiative, Justin Edgington has been appointed national sales manager and Paul Jones has been made sales manager for North Wales and the North West Midlands.
Goodyear is to use its fleet of airships to encourage donations in support of the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The only airships with electronic day and night signs, the blimps will use their signs to promote fund-raising efforts from the American public.
Chuck Sinclair, senior vice president of global communications for Goodyear commented: “We talked about the possibility of flying signs over the affected areas, however it was agreed that the best way to offer immediate support is through an awareness campaign to alert the public where donations can be made. We recognise the relief efforts will go on for months, and we pledge our resources in support of these efforts as a way to keep the American public focused on the needs.”
When Royal Mail opened its newest workshop in the West Midlands on 9 August, chief executive, Adam Crozier, invited some of its largest equipment suppliers to attend. The brand new facility will be responsible for 800 Royal Mail and Parcelforce vehicles, as well as being able to service and MOT vehicles from other fleet operators in the area. Director, Gavin Masterton, and sales manager Mick Norman represented Maywood Equipment Group.
According to the company, Adam Crozier was most impressed with the mobile column lifts that the Maywood supplied and asked a number of questions about them. Royal Mail project manager, Robert Thomas commented: “They have completed the workshop and are being well used!”
(Akron/Tire Review) Mining Engineering magazine reported that one of the world’s largest mining companies said it may have to reduce copper production because of a shortage of large truck tyres. An executive of Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) said demand for truck tyres currently exceeds supply. Guillermo Vero, Codelco Norte’s vice president of mining and metallurgy, said the shortage involves tyres for 300-ton haul trucks.
Hutchison, a company that also owns the UK’s 3 mobile phone network, is reported to be preparing to buy Formula One for about $1 billion (£575 million). Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One tycoon, confirmed on Sunday that he had been approached by the Hong Kong firm.
Kwik-Fit Fleet picked up a couple of new contracts recently.
The first of these is a three-year deal with HSBC Vehicle Finance, under which Kwik-Fit Fleet is named as preferred supplier of fast-fit services to its fleet of 90,000 vehicles.
Mike Wise, Kwik-Fit Fleet sales director, said: “More and more contract hire and leasing companies are looking to consolidate their purchasing power to keep costs down and cement service standards for drivers.” Peter Hollinshead, head of HSBC Vehicle Finance, agreed, saying: “We task ourselves with maximising our purchasing power, improving service levels and making efficiency savings, which we can pass on to our customers. This agreement with Kwik-Fit Fleet will help us achieve these objectives.”
Fleet management company Zenith Vehicle Contracts, has appointed Kwik-Fit as its first-tier provider of tyres and tyre products. The move is a result of Zenith’s decision to upgrade its Servicecall operation, which manages the maintenance of its 15,000-car fleet. Servicecall has now been brought in-house and its business hours extended so they now run from 7.30am to 6.30pm. Kwik-Fit will handle all out-of-hours calls through its Tannochside call centre in Scotland.
In France, Kwik-Fit subsidiary Speedy has reorganised its fleet mobile tyre service. According to Speedy, the reorganisation is designed to better meet the need of its customers. In the Paris area, for example, it often takes “more than thirty minutes to get out to the customer from the nearest service centre,” explains Rodolphe Noulin, director of fleets and mobile services. Now the company has reinforced its coverage in the eight main districts of the “l’Ile-de-france” to eight mobiles vehicles instead of the six it had before.
The Governance and Nomination Committee of international mobile phone giant Nokia has proposed Edouard Michelin, managing partner and CEO of Michelin Group, to be elected to the Nokia Board for a one-year term.
Edouard Michelin joined Michelin 1985 and has since held different managerial positions within research, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Between 1990 and 1993 he headed the Michelin manufacturing facilities in North America and the truck tyre product line. He is a Michelin managing partner and has been CEO of Michelin Group since 1999.
ATS Euromaster has made a tyre management service contract worth approximately £1 million with Days Contract Hire. The 8000 strong fleet of cars and LCVs will be supported by ATS Euromaster’s “Euromaster Car” online authorisation system, and a mobile fitting service.
“We considered various types of tyre fast fit companies and decided to go with ATS Euromaster because they offered a competitive price and because their tyre expenditure would be managed more efficiently from headquarters in Aston, through their central invoicing system,” commented Aled Williams, general manager at Days Contract Hire.
When the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations come into effect on 23 March 2005 they are likely to affect tyre fitters, the NTDA has reported. From the start, workers covered by the regulations will be limited to working an average 48-hour week that will be calculated over a 17-week period. While it will be possible to extend this period to 26 weeks by using a collective or workforce agreement, the maximum working time allowed in any single week will be 60 hours. The worker cannot ‘opt-out’ of either the maximum average working week or single week maximum hours.
The Regulations will apply to those persons who are mobile workers currently covered by the EU drivers’ rules i.e. those persons who work within the transport industry operating either goods vehicles, or passenger vehicles transporting more than eight seated passengers. Self-employed drivers will not be covered by the provisions until 23 March 2009. Mobile workers also need to comply with existing EU drivers’ hours rules in addition to the new regulations.
Marco Tronchetti Provera, boss of both Telecom Italia (TI) and Pirelli, is to force the merger of TI with its daughter company Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), Italian media sources are reporting. According to the Italian media, TI is aiming to submit an official requirement for the 44 per cent of TIM, which is still in circulation, next week. The cost is estimated at 19 billion euros. Olimpia Holding is TI’s dominant shareholder, while Olimpia itself is controlled by Pirelli.
The AA has announced that it intends to close AA Tyre Fit, which currently provides a national mobile tyre fitting through a fleet of 130 vehicles, and its Vehicle Inspections business, currently offering inspections on used cars for consumers. According to the company, both businesses have been operating at a loss.
Prince Charles recently visited Darren Williams Tyre and Auto Care Services in Scotland as part of the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT).
Mr Williams set up his own mobile tyre-fitting firm in 2001 with the help of PSYBT, and has since grown from a one man tyre fitting operation to servicing the domestic, haulage and agricultural sectors. The dealership, which is part of the RH Claydon network, won the regional final of the PSYBT Business Awards in 2003 and later went on to win the runner-up prize in the national finals.
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