In support of Tyred, the safety campaign raising awareness that old tyres kill, Arriva North West and Wales have changed supplier of tyres for their vehicles. The new arrangement will see some 1,000 buses fitted with Continental tyres, with a mix of tyres from across the tyre lifecycle ensuring maximum safety and sustainability for the bus network, the firm has announced. Continental already has existing tyre supply relationships with Arriva’s businesses across Europe.
The tyres are designed for quality and robust support for the vehicles driving short distances on busy urban routes each day, and are built to meet the tough safety standards required for inner-city routes with narrow streets, curbing issues, and stop-go traffic, as well as being designed to withstand severe weather, said the operator, and will feature a 20% increase in sidewall thickness.
Besides supplying tyres, the arrangement between Arriva North West & Wales and Continental will also include regularly reporting and monitoring key performance trends in the tyres and service levels, to ensure maximum safety and efficiency. A dedicated Continental Fleet Inspector will oversee tyre performance, tyre husbandry, tyre pressure monitoring and maintenance, measuring each including quarterly pressure audits, to ensure best possible long-term benefits for Arriva’s customers.
The Tyred campaign focuses on ageing tyres and how they primarily degrade from the inside out – this can lead to the inner layers of the tyre delaminating from the steel belts inside, leading to, in some cases, exploding tyres. Because ageing substantially decreases the quality, integrity and ultimately the safety of tyres, they are campaigning for the of ban dangerously old tyres often used within the coach’s ad mini-bus industry.
Head of Marketing for Arriva North West and Wales, Lisa Pearson said: “Ensuring that our tyres are safe for our customers is extremely important, the Tyred campaign has highlighted the horrors of having old tyres and they unimaginable hurt and loss they can cause. Making sure that Arriva is leading the way for passenger safety and showing others in the transport sector that it can be done is something that were extremely proud of. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers, anything we can do to encourage conversations around safety and especially tyre safety we welcome. Arriva fully backs the Tyred campaign for new legislation for the implementation of an upper age limit to tyres in the UK.”
Tyred Campaign Leader, Frances Molloy said: “This is a welcome initiative by Arriva who have been a strong supporter of the Tyred campaign. Knowing that businesses are prioritising the importance of tyre safety on the back of our hard-fought campaign means we have made an impact and it will significantly improve the safety of those vehicles.”
