How much do tyres really cost you?

Tuesday, October 15, 2013 - 08:59
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Tyres

COST: Fleets spend big money on tyres

In our latest Expert Blog, Nigel Weller, of Puncture Safe UK, gives his advice on figuring out how much tyres really do cost you…

You’re in the office and a call comes in from the police: “There’s been an accident. Mr Joe Bloggs was driving a Your Company Name lorry and the tyre burst. The lorry hit the central reservation, hitting five cars along the way and several people are injured…”

Is your first thought the safety of the public? The safety of the driver? The contents of the lorry’s load? The customer who is expecting it? The image the company now has in the aftermath of the accident?

Are you even concerned for your own position, now that you have the law to answer to?

Whatever your answer to this scenario was, it demonstrates that tyre safety and reliability does have a real impact on how supply chains are managed and how one incident can have major setbacks for your company.

Tyre reliability is something that I have worked with all my life.

As a young man, I worked with agricultural machinery and punctures were commonplace.

Replacing them was costly, but it was more of a time issue for us workers.

We were always up against deadlines and working flat out, so to down tools because of a puncture was seriously out of the question.

Business continuity also affects reputation.

If one of your vans is out on a delivery and gets a puncture, someone has to ring the customer and explain why they will not be receiving their goods today.

Chances are, that customer is up against deadlines themselves or they are meeting their own demands, so inevitably a non-delivery from you will have an impact on your reliability and it will reflect on the service that you offer your customers.

It could even cost you the customer altogether.

“But, punctures aren’t my fault!” I hear you say, and yes, in some respects you are right.

You might not have caused the puncture, but you can be responsible for preventing them.

You are also responsible to deliver on what you promise, maintain the business’ reputation and, ultimately, make sure that your staff are delivering in vehicles that are safe – in every way possible.

But, there is more still.

We’ve not even started to consider corporate social responsibility, and this is one of the most important factors when it comes to tyre protection.

All businesses worry that they aren’t exercising enough CSR and nothing screams responsibility more than prevention – after all it is better than cure!

Once the word gets out that your business is preventing accidents by installing a puncture-resistant solution into tyres, this can only have a positive effect on the company PR.

It will also demonstrate that you are leading the way in this field, paving the way for others to follow.

It goes without saying that business continuity, CSR, staff and customer reliability are all objective costs, but there are also the relative costs associated with tyre damage and replacement too.

During 2010, in the haulage industry alone, there were 7,103 accidents involving at least one HGV, with 9,686 casualties.

Of those casualties, 263 were fatalities.

Fatal accidents are estimated to cost on average around £1,790,000 per accident.

These are extreme figures, but it is reality that some of these accidents were caused by poor tyre maintenance.

Having the correct tyres installed and keeping them correctly maintained can also impact on fuel consumption by around 30%.

Therefore a fleet manager’s job is important when it comes to checking tyres regularly.

It just goes to show that you are probably relying on your tyres more than you think!

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