Truck Tyres
India’s Ministry of Finance has imposed an anti-dumping duty on truck and bus radial (TBR) tyres imported from China. The duty ranges from $245.35 – $452.33 per ton, according to a notification from the Central Board Excise and Customs (CBEC), and has been applied to “new pneumatic radial tyres with or without tubes and/or flap of rubber (including tubeless tyres) having nominal rim diameter code above 16 (inch)”.
Bandvulc has announced that Faccenda Foods Ltd have extended its contract with Bandvulc’s fleet management division, BVPlus+, to March 2019. The company first became a client in 2008 and the two firms report that they enjoy “a robust business relationship which has gone from strength to strength over that time”.
According to the latest statistics on the UK commercial vehicle industry, the number of medium to large commercial vehicle operators has been rising in the last five years. This represents an opportunity for outsourced tyre contract and service providers, as larger fleets present an increasingly complex task to manage their tyre usage, and associated servicing. Michelin solutions estimates that 42 per cent of truck fleets in the UK operating 51 or more vehicles are still purchasing tyres on a transactional basis, and therefore managing them in-house. It argues that this process is likely increasing their costs and environmental footprint.
With a headline like that, you could be forgiven for thinking that this month’s column refers to the ongoing geopolitical sabre rattling taking place between China’s North Korean neighbours and the USA. However, as important as the hint of nuclear escalation is, here we focus on how the overheating Chinese tyre market is as close as it has ever been to boiling over. Two key subjects have raised the temperature in the People’s Republic during the last month or so: The European Commission’s (EC) decision to initiate an anti-dumping investigation against Chinese-produced truck and bus tyres; and the even more imminent effects of local environmental emissions investigations within China itself, which have led to the suspension and even closure of numerous businesses in the country (see below).
Singapore-based international contract tyre producer – Firenza are established in the UK and Europe as a supplier of value and mid-range truck and bus tyres. According to the company, the Firenza TBR range is manufactured within “leading international production facilities in China and Vietnam”.
Enjoy Tyre says its private brand Routeway offers tyres suiting all truck and trailer applications. Routeway patterns are exclusively distributed in the UK by leading independent wholesaler International Tyres in Oldbury, West Midlands and throughout Europe by specially selected wholesalers. All the tyres are specially designed for each specific market sector including steer, drive and trailer in sizes from 215/75R17.5 up to 425/65R22.5.
By all accounts the UK commercial vehicle tyre market remains a tough environment. low cost oversupply has been rife for years. In addition, a number of heavyweight players are using premium products and smart integrated service offers to compete for the largest truck and bus fleets. With this competitive context in mind, Tyres & Accessories spoke with Bridgestone North Europe region commercial sales director Greg Ward and found out more about how the company continues to grow.
e-jobsheet subscribers will be able to offer an improved service for inspecting and auditing direct and third party fleets with the introduction of the new fleet audit facility next month, as the open-architecture, digital tablet-based work exchange for truck, bus and van moves into testing by dedicated fleet auditors during August.
CAM’s Online Tyre Catalogue (OTC) is playing a key role in linking ‘sharer dealers’ to the platform the Tyre Intelligence Europe (TIE) initiative. According to the company, the pivotal role the system is playing when it comes to accessing details down to the article level for brands, sizes and location of sale is becoming increasingly apparent.
With over 2 billion passenger journeys a year, bus usage is around double that of the London Underground. But bus passenger numbers are in decline. Between 2014/15 and 2016/17, the number of passenger journeys made on buses fell by six per cent. In its second piece of important work on the capital’s buses, the London Assembly Transport Committee report ‘London’s bus network’ (published 17 August 2017) tackles the this subject and recommends:
During the last year or so everyone selling truck tyres had to face the reality that raw material costs had been increasing. The specific impact that this reality had and is having on the truck fleet business varies from company to company because it depends on terms, conditions and when contract deadlines fall. However, in general there are indications that the market is moving away from short term purchase price-only thinking as long-term value becomes a more critical criteria. Tyres & Accessories spoke with Marc Preedy, commercial director Goodyear UK and Ireland, in order to find out more.
The latest SMMT registrations data shows that the new HGV (heavy goods vehicle) market in the UK saw strong growth in the second quarter of 2017, according to figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 11,771 new trucks were registered – a 6.3 per cent rise on the same period last year as manufacturers delivered several large orders to fleets in quarter two.
According to the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA), the Republic of Ireland’s proposed tyre compliance scheme, which is due to come into effect on 1 October, will “seriously distort end of life tyre recovery and recycling efforts on the island of Ireland with knock-on-effects in the UK as a whole”.
Exports of British-built vans, trucks and buses rose 11.6 per cent in the first six months of 2017, with almost all headed to the EU, according to figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Nearly two-thirds (63.5 per cent) of commercial vehicles (CVs) built in Britain were exported, with 27,818 of the 43,782 total produced headed to more than 45 countries around the world.
The European Commission has issued notice that it will initiate an anti-dumping proceeding focusing on imports of truck and bus tyres originating in the People’s Republic of China. The Commission is taking this course of action as a result of a complaint received on 30 June by the “coalition against unfair tyres imports,” a group representing the interests of manufacturers who account for more than 45 per cent of all new and retreaded truck and bus tyre production in the European Union.
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