Is fleet tyre management still relevant today?

With pressures on today’s operators increasing from driver shortages, fuel increases and ultra-low emission zones, keeping costs under control is even more crucial.

Bandvulc has been a leader in fleet tyre management for over 40 years and since being acquired by Continental in 2016 this has improved even more.

Opportunities for cost efficiencies start when you order a new vehicle in ensuring that you have the right tyre for your application, as many OEMs now fit low tread depth tyres for fuel efficiency, but these are designed for long distance, motorway applications. If your operation is more regional then selecting the right tyre is crucial. You should also consider Continental’s TPMS – ContiPressureCheck.

Once the vehicle is home, savings can be made by making sure pressures are checked regularly for optimum fuel and mileage performance and by having a tyre management programme which your service provider can deliver.

Arthur Gregg, MD, comments: “Typically, at Bandvulc we manage some of the largest fleets across the UK and Ireland with over 70 per cent of groceries delivered on a BV managed fleet and over one million wheels managed overall.

“Retreads play a very important part of this mix in that you can get 95 per cent of the mileage for 70 per cent of the cost hence bringing your operating costs down and also reusing over 80 per cent of the raw materials, saving 68 litres of oil and reducing CO2 emissions by 182.24kg.”

At Bandvulc, every casing is carefully examined to ensure its suitability with over 20 quality checks before production and every tyre is pressure checked prior to leaving the factory to give a warranty rate similar to new tyres.

With a comprehensive tyre range, Bandvulc can provide mileage performance, fuel performance or a compromise between the two. The factory, now owned by Continental, also produces over 80 per cent of the ContiRe tyres for the UK and Irish markets using only first life Conti Group casings.

Neil Davies, Commercial Fleet Sales Manager, Continental Group UK & Ireland adds: “If something does go wrong, then our Conti360 Degree Fleet Services office, which employs over 100 people, offering 24/7/365 back up service via a network of C360 Degree partners, will have you back up and running again in just over an hour.

“In Ireland we also have our in-house operation, Advance Pitstop, to further enhance the offering. Bandvulc’s Galahad fleet management system provides real time reporting, access to training and KPI to let you manage your fleet when it’s away from base.”

So today, yes effective fleet management is as relevant as ever.