Michelin’s excellent products and cutting-edge data analysis proved to be an irresistible combination for building materials manufacturer Forterra, which has chosen the tyre specialist as its sole supplier.
Following a competitive tender, Michelin has been awarded the contract to fit products from its X Multi and X Works tyre ranges to the operator’s predominately Volvo truck fleet to help reduce fuel costs, mitigate its environmental impact and improve uptime.
“We had full confidence in the quality of the product, which is excellent. However, the thing that took Michelin’s offer to the next level was their ability to analyse our fleet’s performance to ensure it’s running as efficiently as possible,” says John Anderson, National Logistics Director at Forterra.
“Yes, you are their customer but the way they approach things feels like a partnership, with a focus on sustainability, improving MPG and ensuring we have the right tyre for the specific job.”
The three-year pence-per-kilometre deal brings a 15-year association between Forterra and its previous tyre provider to an end.
Forterra is initially trialling the versatile MICHELIN X Multi tyre across its fleet. This will likely be the mainstay, however, the nature of its work, which includes delivering to builders’ merchants as well as off-road driving on building sites, means the robust MICHELIN X Works tyre will be fitted in certain use cases based on the trial data.
For Forterra, another key motivator behind its decision to select Michelin as its sole provider was the opportunity to adopt the tyre manufacturer’s multi-life policy, which will help to minimise the total cost of ownership and environmental impact further.
The policy means that once a new set of tyres has reached the end of its first life, they are regrooved and retreaded as MICHELIN Remix tyres. Once the Remix tyres are worn, the business sends the casing back to Michelin to be retreaded again to produce Encore tyres – extracting the maximum performance from each casing.
“As a business the shift to four-stages of life for each tyre is a big opportunity for us, which will enhance our sustainability efforts and help us manage our costs,” adds Anderson.
Operating from 13 locations nationwide, Forterra produces some 500 million bricks a year, which it transports via 143 trucks (both rigids with drawbars and tractor units) and 153 predominately drawbar trailers, the vast majority of which feature mechanical offload systems.
