Reading Buses has agreed a three-year renewal of its EFFITIRES™ tyre management contract with Michelin solutions, trusting in the comprehensive programme to help the operator focus on “delivering excellence in public transport”.
The pence-per-mile deal covers Reading Buses’ mix of 181 single- and double-decker buses, all of which operate from the company’s central depot in Great Knollys Street.
John Bickerton, Chief Engineer at Reading Buses, says: “We’ve enjoyed the support of Michelin solutions’ expert team for many years now, and have come to regard the company as an extension of our operations. As such, the decision to renew our EFFITIRES™ contract was an easy one, as we aim to lead the field in public transport – and we have a tyre supplier that helps us meet that goal, and ensures we get the maximum safety, durability and longevity from our Michelin fitments.
“The EFFITIRES™ programme allows us to focus on delivering excellence in our operations, and by investing in the best in premium rubber we can harness both Michelin’s high-performance tyres, and the company’s many decades of industry experience.”
Michelin solutions’ dedicated team of business support personnel, auditors and technicians will help ensure Reading Buses’ tyres are serviced to the highest possible standards. The company will also maintain a shared action plan, developed with Reading Buses, to ensure continued harmonised operations, which eases the administrative burden of managing a diverse and busy fleet.
Michelin solutions will also carry out fleet-wide tyre safety inspections and ensure a productive and responsive supply chain, so Reading Buses can continue to fit Michelin tyres in-house.
The company’s fleet sports a variety of high-quality Michelin urban bus tyres, which feature reinforced sidewalls to protect against kerbing and cut down on wheel interventions and downtime.
The operator has also opted to regroove some of its Michelin tyres under the contract – a move that helps Reading Buses save money on fuel, as Michelin tyres become more fuel-efficient as their tread wears down – meaning that regrooving a tyre maximises its operational life during its most fuel-efficient state.
Regrooving also helps the operator cut its environmental footprint, as fewer new tyres need to be manufactured, and therefore fewer raw materials are consumed.
Multi-award-winning Reading Buses, which was named ‘UK Bus Operator of the Year’ at 2015’s UK Bus Awards, colour-codes both its routes and the buses that run on them, making the company’s brightly-coloured fleet a stand-out sight on the town’s busy streets. The company also operates a number of compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered single-decker buses, and is to become the world’s first operator of Scania CNG double-deckers in October.
The operator focuses greatly on consumer analysis – an approach which has resulted in a number of innovations, including refurbishing its dedicated university route buses to create a new ‘claret spritzer’ experience for students, featuring double-deckers equipped with an on-board library, lounge and cosy bench seating, specifically for students travelling to the University of Reading.
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