No need for undue excitement. An agreement has been ratified between Cooper Tire & Rubber and workers based in Findlay, Ohio – but they aren’t the locked-out workers embroiled in the fracas oft reported by Tyrepress.com over the past couple of months. The three-year contract with the US tyre maker involves truck drivers represented by the Teamsters union. Final approval of the new contract was given on 18 February.
Cam Systems has told tyrepress.com that it welcomes the decision taken on 2 February by Transport secretary Justine Greening to retain the 3-1-1 MOT system. The software provider to the independent tyre industry calls the move a victory for sanity.
The winners have been drawn for the tyrepress.com/Tyres & Accessories magazine competition to win one of three pairs of tickets to the Autosport International show on 14-15 January at Birmingham’s NEC. Most of the many entries received by the closing date of 9 December correctly identified Pirelli as the 2011 season Formula One tyre supplier. The first three entrants and the winners of the Autosport tickets were: Phillip May, Katy Jones and David Peacock. Five more entrants with the correct answer will receive other tyre-related goodies (full winners and prizes listed below). Thank you to all our readers who entered; look out for more competitions in the near future.
On the evening of 10 December, the management and employees of Denmark’s Starco celebrated half a century in the business. The 50 year anniversary was commemorated at a function at the home of company CEO Peer Ejlersgaard and at regional Starco premises worldwide.
In the last couple of weeks the tyrepress.com website has published a number of texts updating the progress, or lack thereof, of negotiations between Cooper Tire & Rubber and the United Steelworkers towards a new contract for Cooper’s Findlay, Ohio plant. The current standoff between union and tyre maker is not the first Tyres & Accessories has reported, and is certain not to be the last. Yet some think what is happening in Findlay shows the direction US labour relations are taking; the Wall Street Journal, for example, opines that “the clash between Cooper and its 1,050 union workers may signal a return to a more combative tone in the America's industrial heartland.”
Later today the 2012 Pirelli Calendar will be launched at an invite-only event in New York. Next year’s calendar, snapped by Italian photographer Mario Sorrenti, was photographed in Corsica and featured a third appearance by 37-year old Croydon born supermodel Kate Moss. See tyrepress.com tomorrow for full information.
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In a Private Members’ Debate on Tuesday 29 November, Paul Goggins MP continued to raise the issue of commercial vehicle wheel safety with Parliamentary under-secretary of State for Transport Mike Penning, asserting “I am not going away on this issue.” The outcome of the debate was that the MPs will meet again soon, to discuss the outcome of Goggins’ meetings with industry representatives and trade associations. The MP, in conjunction with MWS, is setting up meetings with the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association; a process that the latest Westminster action will have eased, company representative Matthew Wells told tyrepress.com/Tyres & Accessories.
Motor Wheel Service boss John Ellis is continuing to campaign for safety checks on second hand and take-off wheels entering the UK commercial vehicle market; the company estimates that over 10,000 such wheels enter the UK aftermarket every year, of which it says the large majority are sold by companies who do not possess the technical abilities or examination procedures to ascertain the history and fatigue of a wheel. His local MP Paul Goggins, with whom he has discussed the problem since 2010, will continue the debate with Mike Penning MP, parliamentary under-secretary of State at the Department for Transport, in Westminster Hall on Tuesday 29 November.
Goodyear is hosting a web tv show at 15:00 (BST) today. In the webcast Quentin Willson will share his safe winter driving knowledge with Goodyear Dunlop PR support manager Kate Rock. The show is based on a OnePoll survey of 4,000 motorists, which revealed motorists’ phobia of driving in winter conditions. It also showed that less than one in five drivers have ever purchased winter tyres. To view the webcast, go to http://77.237.250.82/~tyrepress/live.html. You can also submit a question to Willson and Rock now.
The tyre trade has suggested that, while there is still plenty of scepticism over the commercial draw of fuel efficient tyres, consumers will pay more for a tyre that increases fuel efficiency. Visitors to tyrepress.com expressed their opinions on the issue during last month’s Question of the Month, with 59.43 per cent of voters suggesting that consumers would shell out for tyres that make their fuel go further. To vote in the new Question of the Month – Is the market ready for tyre labelling? – go to the tyrepress.com homepage.
Kwik Fit Group has confirmed its intention to sell Speedy, the group’s French automotive fast-fit company. The announcement confirms earlier reports tyrepress.com published in September that suggested that the business’s suitors included president Jacques Le Foll, his predecessor Giles Chauveau, backed by investment fund Butler Capital, plus automotive centre operator Feu Vert, who previously had its eye on Speedy some four years ago. (Feu Vert is a French workshop and automotive specialty shop chain that operates more than 400 outlets, around three-quarters of which are located in France).
Pirelli has now been in the truck tyre business for exactly 100 years and the Italian manufacturer enters its second century in the sector by launching several new products. In mid-September the company introduced three tyre lines that round out its ‘01’ series; the FW:01 and TW:01 for winter conditions, FH:01 and TH:01 long-distance haulage tyres, and FG:01 and TG:01 for construction machinery.
As of 1 September 2011, Ellerbrock Reifenrunderneuerungs-Technologie GmhH, which was acquired by the Marangoni Group in the early 1990s, officially began trading under the name Marangoni Retreading Systems Deutschland GmbH.
Micheldever Tyre Services has told tyrepress.com/Tyres & Accessories that the company is “absolutely delighted” to be nominated for the 2011 TAFF Wholesale Awards. A spokesman for Micheldever firmly stated its appreciation: “We are very grateful for the support of our customers in recognising our efforts and backing this with a nomination in the Wholesaler Category.
Tyrepress.com is never one to shirk a challenge, and when tyre supplier Maxxis International called the editorial office recently to announce a fantasy football league open to members of the trade and consumers alike, we already had our squad’s two goalkeepers selected (Paul Robinson and Chris Kirkland warming the bench – thanks for asking). The company is offering the chance to win prizes for the top-scoring managers each month. Should you want to join in, you first need to select your team at http://fantasy.premierleague.com. After that, click on the 'Leagues' link at the top of the page and select “Join a league”; chose “private league” and enter the code 1670445-352645 to join. Maxxis has sponsorship agreements with two of England’s top tier’s longest-standing clubs, Liverpool and Aston Villa, at whose grounds the brand will display its advertising materials.
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