How De-risking by Tructyre Saves Your Fleet Money
De-risking: A money saving essential for the best run fleets
Getting upstream of potential problems is the essence of de-risking. As the movie producer Robert Jones says, “De-risking is what you do to prepare for all of the things that could possibly go wrong." Some things just happen – they can’t be predicted - but lots of things can be expected, especially with tyres.
De-risking starts with understanding what might happen and what may happen. Money is saved by dealing with these two aspects of the tyre ownership.
Reduce preventable emergencies with Tructyre's tyre management system
Tyres that are cared for through a rigorous, disciplined, and pro-active tyre management system stand a much better chance of being removed before they can threaten a mission or compromise safety.
Here is the first way that de-risking saves the operator money – it can reduce the number of emergencies – especially those due to patchy tyre management and superficial tyre maintenance.
The important point is that not all emergencies are inevitable - some can be prevented.
Tructyre's tyre inspector can quickly spot and deal with a tyre that is demonstrating poor wear promptly and precisely.
And we all know, that one of the worst case scenarios for any operator is having a vehicle stranded on the side of the road during a mission. It tends to provoke unpleasant conversations with customers, and the finance and operations teams.
Catch the tyres at precisely the right time to apply a life-extending service
Like fuel, tyres are an expensive necessity. So here comes the second way that de-risking saves money: It ensures that the tyre asset base is managed to yield the optimum cost of tyre ownership.
- Just operating tyres at the correct pressure can increase the potential mileage of the tyre by up to 10%. (It stops them ageing prematurely.) And operating at the correct pressure reduces the drag of a tyre – saving fuel and providing safety.
- A well-timed turn-on-rim or re-locating exercise can yield up to 20% more mileage.
- Regrooving can release up to 25% additional tyre mileage.
- Relocating tyres around a vehicle (or other vehicles in the fleet) can optimise the wear of the tyre across the vehicle or the fleet.
De-risking does not remove the need for replacing tyres, but it does optimise the timing of the tyre purchase by putting it off as long as (safely) possible.
De-risk to maximise the benefits of retreading
Many users of premium tyres deploy a retread program as part of their tyre fitment policy. Where a retread policy is provided, the careful management of the heavy vehicle tyre fleet will ensure as many tyres as possible are available for the retread process – having avoided damage that renders a tyre scrap.
Why is this important? Because the maximum financial benefits of retreading occur when the ratio of new tyres to retreaded tyres on the fleet is at the optimum position. Remember, a retreaded tyre can last as long as a new tyre whilst costing much less. Read more about retreading.
Gotcha! Even if you fit all these tyres at the same time, they will need to be maintained and replaced separately
A quick look at the tyres of many trucks or trailers highlights one of the more complex issues with tyre management for trucks and trailers, buses or coaches.
It is to do with the interaction of the tyres with the vehicle and the road which provokes wear at different rates across the tyre positions on the same vehicle. It makes saving money a little more challenging.
For example, on a tri-axle trailer it is often the middle tyre that will wear to its limits before the front tyre and finally the rear tyre. Which means that even if each position is replaced at the same time, the tyres will require life-extending services (also known as tyre husbandry) at different times through their service life.
So, regular inspection is essential because each tyre on a typical vehicle will need different care and attention at different times. The longer the wait between inspections, the greater the chance that the tyre will not receive the attention it requires at the optimal time.
Is there a secret to unlocking money saving by de-risking?
The answer is no, there is no secret. In fact, the savings are there for the taking and are found in:
- Fewer emergencies - with each emergency costing thousands of pounds and the risk extending to customer relationships, even saving just one can make a meaningful difference.
- Getting all the available wear from the tyre - the tyre is an asset, not a cost.
- Reducing the number of new tyres in service whilst increasing the number of retreaded tyres saves money with no trade-off on safety or performance.