NEW TYRE POLICY BRINGS SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN UPTIME
25 July 2012
West Yorkshire-based Bedfords Transport has halved instances of tyre-related breakdowns across its fleet of 84 trucks and 135 trailers, since adopting a new tyre policy with ATS Euromaster in December 2011.
During the first seven months of the contract Bedfords Transport recorded an average of just 3.4 roadside tyre failures per month, compared with an average of 6.4 per month during the previous year.
Lee Nichols, Purchasing Consultant at Bedfords Transport, says that the new approach to tyres is having a significant impact on operational uptime.
“We’ve always been good at managing our tyres,” says Nichols, “but these results show what can be achieved by closer partnership working with suppliers. We’re recording tangible improvements in tyre performance every month, which is cutting our running costs and directly enhancing the service we deliver for customers.”
Prior to appointing a new supplier, Bedfords Transport tendered the contract and evaluated options from a number of different tyre manufacturers and service providers. It elected to re-appoint ATS Euromaster, building on a relationship between the two companies established more than a decade ago. At the same time Bedfords Transport moved to specifying Pirelli new and remould tyres.
Key differences with the new policy are a commitment to monitoring every single aspect of tyre expenditure and performance, with detailed reporting provided by ATS Euromaster. This includes analysis of all tyre failures, or patterns of failure, allowing any issues which arise to be addressed promptly.
ATS Euromaster has also introduced regular account review meetings; plus its full-time on-site technician is carrying out more frequent fleet-wide tyre inspections. These support each driver’s daily vehicle checks, and help to spot and rectify issues before they result in unnecessary downtime at the roadside.
Highlighting another change, Nichols explains: “We’re still buying tyres on a transactional basis, but now measure value in terms of ‘pence-per-kilometre’. This is possible because ATS Euromaster is recording tyre usage in such detail, enabling us to use the data to make accurate comparisons in tyre performance between different fleet assets.”
The revised contract sees all elements of tyre servicing conducted by ATS Euromaster, including routine tyre fitting, pressure monitoring, twinning and turning tyres on the rim. Since the new contract began, brand policy adherence has tracked at 98 per cent.
ATS Euromaster also provides 24/7 nationwide roadside rapid response, measured against a KPI of two hours. Since the new contract began, it has averaged 1 hour and 53 minutes, measured from the minute a tyre failure is reported until the truck is back on the road.
Vehicles in the Bedfords Transport fleet operate nationwide, with some tractor units double-shifted and covering more than 140,000 km a year. Established in 1927, the company offers a full spectrum of services from contract distribution to pallet delivery; fulfilment to warehousing. Bedfords Transport is also a member of Palletforce and LinQ Alliance. For more information: www.bedfordstransport.co.uk
ends
About ATS Euromaster
ATS Euromaster is part of the Euromaster Group, which operates in fifteen European countries with 10,700 employees in more than 1,800 service centres. Established in the UK since 1961, ATS Euromaster has 368 service centres (comprising a mixture of retail, comprehensive and truck sites), approximately 1,000 mobile service vans and employs 2,680 people, providing national coverage of the UK. It is the largest comprehensive tyre distributor supplying tyres for everything from cars and vans to trucks, coaches, forklifts, agricultural tractors and even construction plant. In 2010 ATS Euromaster became the first national tyre expert to be accredited by both SAFEContractor and the Contractors Health and Safety Scheme (CHAS). The company’s technicians are amongst the most highly trained in the fast-fit industry, offering a comprehensive range of products and services including tyres, fleet inspections, nitrogen inflation, brakes, batteries, shock absorbers, oil, exhausts, fault diagnostics, air-conditioning servicing and MOT testing. Further information is available from www.atseuromaster.co.uk
Note to editor: For press information please contactJames Keeler on 020 8647 4467.
ATS/376/12
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