Pay as you drive tyres

Bus fleet operators remain wedded to tyre mileage contracts and Michelin remains a major beneficiary of this policy.

So says Stewart Pooley, key account manager at Michelin Fleet Solutions, the company’s specialist tyre management division. “They own the wheels but we own the rubber, and charge them so many pence per mile for its use,” he says.

Well over 8,000 buses within London alone have their tyres supplied by the company under this arrangement and cover nearly 300 million miles annually on them. Operating on 98 per cent of red London bus routes within the M25 ring, they primarily run on 245/70 R19.5 and 275/70 R22.5 Michelin X InCity tyres.

The vehicles catered for include everything from single- and double-deckers to articulated buses and Routemasters run on heritage routes.

Michelin doesn’t simply supply the tyres and collect the cash. It provides its tyre mileage clients with a comprehensive support service.

“We supply fitters employed by us who are based in the customer’s depot,” Pooley explains. As well as fitting the tyres, they are responsible for all aspects of tyre maintenance, including ensuring that the tread isn’t excessively or unevenly worn, that there are no suspicious-looking bulges in the sidewall, and that the tyre is inflated to the correct pressure.

Fleet inspections are conducted regularly. “The whole thing is very much a partnership between our tyre technicians and the bus fleet’s engineers,” he contends.

With 60 full-time depot-based bus tyre fitters in London alone, Michelin is in a good position to provide cover for holidays or absence due to sickness. “We’ve got the necessary critical mass,” he remarks.

If needs be ATS Euromaster can be called on to provide support if a Michelin-shod bus gets a puncture and is stranded at the roadside.

Contracts involve following the Michelin Four Lives tyre process.

When the tread depth on a new tyre reaches 3mm, the tyre is regrooved to take advantage of the extra layer of rubber included in the manufacturer’s bus tyres.

Once the regrooved tyre has worn down it is remoulded by Michelin into an X InCity Remix, said to offer almost the same performance as its brand-new equivalent. It too can be regrooved to provide a fourth life.

“Our fitters take the wheels off, and put them back on again,” Pooley continues.

That sounds an innocent-enough activity until one remembers just how serious a matter it is if a wheel comes off on the public highway. “Fortunately such incidents are few and far between, but any wheel-loss incident is likely to result in a public inquiry,” he observes.

Nor is there any point in the operator blaming a tyre fitter employed by a third party if he or she has to appear at one. The traffic commissioner will simply point out that the operator is the O licence holder, not the fitter, and has a responsibility to exercise proper supervision over the activities of maintenance contractors.

Michelin operates tyre mileage contracts all over the UK – “from Scotland to Cornwall,” says Pooley – and the attitudes of operators over how wheels should be handled can differ.

“We may for example put the wheel on the vehicle, torque up the wheel nuts, and then sign the vehicle over to the customer on the understanding that they are responsible for any subsequent re-torqueing,” he says. “In one contract we’ve got we don’t hang the wheels at all.”

Among the products available to operators to tackle loss of wheels nuts is Prolock, supplied by Parma.

Prolocks lock onto adjacent wheel nuts and if for some reason, clamping force is lost, the nuts still stays on, says Parma.

Why do bus companies opt for tyre mileage contracts rather than purchase the tyres outright? “Because it means they can accurately predict an important part of their costs,” Pooley replies.

What’s more, because their tyres are looked after by dedicated specialists, they’re less likely to suffer excessively worn tread or tyre-related MoT failures; and the unwelcome attention of VOSA. There’s also the point that, as well as enhancing safety, properly-maintained tyres result in lower fuel consumption.

No matter how competent they are, tyre fitters cannot be everywhere 24 hours a day. “As a consequence we’ve been doing a bit of training with bus technicians so that they know enough about tyres to spot a problem and report it to the tyre specialist,” Pooley says.

Tyre manufacturers are still launching new products, despite the recession.

Michelin’s X Coach XZ is gradually winning friends, while Continental is making headway with its HSR 2 coach tyre for regional applications; the HSL 2 for long-distance coaches was about to debut at the time of writing. Bridgestone has just upgraded its R192 bus tyre with an eye to improving its durability.

As far as coach tyres are concerned Bridgestone will be emphasising fuel economy as it rolls out its new low-rolling-resistance ECOPIA line-up. The range includes the steer-pattern R429.

Worthy of note too is the M749 drive-axle pattern tyre. Though designed primarily for trucks, its ability to run quietly makes it suitable for coaches, contends the manufacturer.

Bridgestone has made considerable inroads into UK bus fleets in recent years and wants to expand its presence further. Partly that will be achieved through the virtues of its products, it contends; but much of any success it achieves it believes will be due to the quality of support and advice it can provide to operators.

All the established manufacturers are well-aware that they face new competition; and much of that competition emanates from the Far East.

The line-up includes GITI, one of China’s biggest tyre makers.

“When GITI initially came to Europe some four-and-a-half years ago one of its first objectives was to ensure that its range was 100 per cent European as far as product design and sizes are concerned,” says marketing manager, truck and bus Europe, Peter Foulkes. “We spent 12 months testing our tyres in the UK before we put them on sale here.”

Customers who have been sampling GITI’s wares include Lucketts Travel. It had three sets of GITI GT 879 tyres fitted to its vehicles back in June 2008 and has been pleased with their performance.

“With low road noise and consistent wear, drivers have reported no issues from the change,” says engineering director, Mark Jordan. “In fact feedback from the drivers is nothing but positive.

“Although not specifically designed for a coach, the tyres have performed well and have worn very uniformly, with no shouldering issues,” he continues.

Improve the mileage, says Jordan, and GT-branded tyres could become more common sights on the company’s 66-coach fleet. That may be especially the case if 315/80 R22.5 sizes are made available; a gap in the range that will be filled later in the year, says Foulkes.

They’re fitted to 65 per cent of the Lucketts fleet says Jordan.

From 2012 onwards bus and coach tyre manufacturers will have to meet the requirements of demanding new legislation governing wet grip, noise and rolling resistance.

Nobody is entirely sure what the wet grip level will be because the test methodology has yet to be determined.

Noise levels will have to come down by 3dB however. Rolling resistance will have to be a minimum of 8.1kg of rolling force per tonne of wheel load falling to 6.5kg a tonne by 2016.

From 2012 onwards tyres will have to be labelled with wet grip, noise and rolling resistance information. The labels tyre suppliers will have to make available will be rather like those found on domestic fridges and freezers.

Three levels will be shown as far as noise is concerned; the legal limit, 3dB below the limit, and more than 3dB. They’ll be supplemented by a pictogram employing lines emanating from a loudspeaker symbol.

Turning to rolling resistance, tyres will be grouped into seven classes, from A to G.

Category A tyres will boast the lowest resistance, at 4.0kg per tonne or less. Category B tyres will have a rolling resistance of 4.1kg to 5.0kg per tonne, category C will have a resistance of 5.1kg to 6.0kg and so on down the list.

Because the wet grip test procedure has not yet been decided on, the wet grip label content has yet to be decided on too.

For the most part tyre manufacturers remain unruffled by the prospect of new rules and regulations and believe that their products will meet them.

Retreading constitutes recycling, and as a consequence can be defined as environmentally-friendly. There are other ways in which tyres are becoming greener however.

Goodyear for instance is working with biotechnology specialist Genencor on a multi-million-pound joint venture to develop and produce tyres partially made from recycled waste. They could be on sale by 2015.

Tyres contain synthetic as well as natural rubber and the venture will involve replacing a key petrochemical ingredient of synthetic rubber by something called BioIsoprene.

It’s made from renewable biological material – usually referred to as biomass – derived from living or recently-dead organisms. In this case it’s sugar cane waste.

Using biomass doesn’t just have environmental advantages.

Employing it in preference to oil-derived petrochemicals should contribute to keeping tyre costs under control.  There is also the point that a lot of the world’s oil is sourced from areas of the globe prone to the sort of political upheaval that can disrupt supplies and result in shortages.

Use less of it, and you’re less vulnerable.

Tyre manufacturers are working to reduce the weight of their product if they can do so without compromising durability.

Lighter tyres produced using light yet strong materials should result in better fuel economy for the vehicles they’re fitted to, they point out. That means a lower carbon footprint as well.

The effect will be enhanced if those tyres are fitted to lighter wheels too. Many coach operators in particular favour aluminium wheels, not just because they can lead to reduced fuel consumption and a higher payload – useful if passengers arrive accompanied by large quantities of heavy luggage – but because they make their vehicles look more appealing.

“A forged aluminium wheel for a coach will weigh around 25kg compared with 45kg to 50kg for a steel wheel,” says John Ellis, managing director of Motor Wheel Service Distribution.

Meanwhile wheel products supplier Alcoa points out that the forging process provides 423 per cent more strength in a wheel that offers increased payload.

Aluminium wheels can require regular cleaning with suitable chemicals to ensure they look good. That can be a chore, so nowadays wheel makers produce versions that need no cleaning at all other than with soapy water that can be hosed off afterwards. That’s because they have a special protective finish.

Tyre and wheel maintenance is vitally important to the running of a fleet. One consequence has been the development over many years of sophisticated workshop tyre changers, wheel balancers and aligners, with names such as Beissbarth, Hofmann and Rema Tip Top well to the fore.

Costs would of course be reduced dramatically if tyre pressures could be maintained at the correct level without any intervention from fitters, and if punctures seldom, if ever, occurred. Both situations are possible if you use Puncture Safe gel claims David Matthews, owner of distributor Pro-Edge.

“Injected through the tyre valves, it keeps rubber supple, helps stop it from breaking down, prevents corrosion and helps maintain pressures, cutting overheating and protecting tyres from punctures,” he contends. It’s used extensively by the Royal Mail’s fleet, he adds.

Price? It’s a modest £45 per car, which probably equates to around £200 for a coach or a bus.

One potential drawback of using this type of material is that it may result in the casing being rejected by retreaders. That should never happen however insists Matthews.

“All you need to do to get rid of the gel is hose the tyre out,” he says. “Puncture Safe dissolves in water.”

Because it does no harm to the rubber, retreading should be possible.

Retreaders are understandably cautious about anything being put into tyres however, no matter how innocuous; so take advice from your favourite retreader before you take the plunge.


www.alcoa.com

www.beissbarth.co.uk

www.bridgestone-eu.com

www.conti-online.co.uk

www.englishchain.co.uk

www.giti.com

www.goodyear.com

www.michelintransport.com

www.mwsdistribution.co.uk

www.prolock-uk.com

www.pro-edge.co.uk

www.rema-tiptop.co.uk