amass retreads need ilful tyre butchery
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1ILE travelling down the I. t e other day, the inside e oi the leading axle of a ni-trailer ahead of me blew E. The loud, almost metallic ag ,ivas followed by large s of the tyre propelled in
direction, fortunately thoit damage to me or my e. Not a pleasant exrielice, but contrary to pul r belief a rare one, isidered against the huge Tiber of tyres on the road.
oi cidentally, at the time I o my way to meet Roy ho was a regional direcof ational Tyre Service Ltd Jed at Hanwell who might II h ye been responsible for tin the driver of the articu v hide swiftly on his way. (IS Iso the serving chairman the Southern Region of the tio al Tyre Distributors' ;oci tion.
The Association, started in 30, is now nearly fifty years . A with most groups of Jers in any walk of life, it was med to improve standards, itect the interests of members I generally to promote a good Ige for the trade. Much of the lustry's improved image :-;e then has been due to the )Iernentation of ideas put for
ward by members, of which there are now over 250 operating through some 2.500 outlets within the UK.
For a tyre distributor to be eligible to join the Association today, he must fulfil certain requirements. A full membership is open to firms who are able to offer a comprehensive service — facilities to offer a wide range of tyres for both commercial and private use.
To satisfy the conditions and to offer an efficient service, they are also required to possess a minimum of equipment which must include tubeless tyre testing equipment, mechanical air compressor of a min 0,36cum (1 3cuft) capacity, hydraulic jacking equipment up to maximum lift of 10 tons, tyre spreader, adequate repair equipment, mechanical tyre changer, safety cages (static and portable), wheel braces, wheel balancer, alignment gauge, axle stands, bead knockers, levers and at least one van of not less than 760kg (1 5cwt) payload capacity.
Members who take part in the Breakdown Scheme must carry additional tools, including portable inflation equipment and a second van suitably fitted for emergency roadside repairs.
An associate member needs only a selection of the tools already mentioned appropriate to car tyre fitting only. The NTDA is all about supplying the vehicle operator with a complete tyre service. Unfortunately it is not always possible to carry out a tyre change at the customer's yard — failures do happen on the road.
To meet this need, the NTDA set up a National Breakdown scheme which answers about 300,000 calls for help each year from commercial vehicle users. Almost 75,000 such calls are dealt with outside normal working hours. Since the introduction of a -Freephone servicethe operation has been made to work much more smoothly.
In the event of a tyre failure, the driver of the vehicle simply rings Freephone 3737 and the controller relays the request to the nearest supplier. If the customer has a specific preference for an individual member's service in that area, this also can be accommodated.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the Association's influence has been its encourage ment of a more professional approach to the business. Through its education commit-, tee, in conjunction with the Rubber and Plastics Processing Industry Training Board and the British Rubber Manufacturing Association, the NTDA drew up an "on-the-jobtraining syllabus to provide foremen tyre fitters with the practical and theoretical knowledge to enable them to instruct first and second-grade tyre fitters under their supervision.
To assist in general fitter training, a manual has been produced covering all aspects of tyre fitting and repair. As the complexity of the many types of tyre increases, the tyre fitter's need to become better informed and trained in the use of specialist equipment increases, not only for tyre fitting and removal but also for wheel balancing and track alignment.
Since 1975 a two-part City and Guilds Certificate of Competence has provided the opportunity for trained staff to gain some degree of recognition for their efforts.
The customer of the smaller member's seems to benefit most from the Fleet Service Scheme which allows him to take advantage of a nationwide network of depots where he can obtain service when out of his local distributor's area.
National Tyre Service, like many other members of the NTDA, includes tyre regrooving in its list of services. Because of -the regular inspection carried out under the Fleet Service Scheme and the natural reluctance of operators to pick up a GV9, a very high proportion of commercial tyres are submitted with a tread depth of 2 to 3mm of tread remaining. The base rubber normally allows a further 3 to 4mrn of treads to be cut from a sound tyre.
This is a skilled operation and the risks of allowing an untrained person to perform the operation could lead to the ultimate failure of the tyre. The base rubber below the tread serves to cushion the shock loads transmitted from the road surface. If it is weakened, the structure of the carcass becomes subject to increased loads which can lead to heat build-up and eventual separation of the plies.
Bond regrooving or extensive wear can affect the acceptability of the carcass for retreading. For reputable retreaders, a carcass only has a resale value if it is in soundcondition, For this reason alone, if for no other, it is unusual to find badly-worn tyres on commercial vehicles. But it is a fact that regrooved tyres are more prone to penetration damage.
Roy's own opinion of the move towards increasing the minimum legal tread depth above the limit set in the 1968 tyre regulations is that it would have little effect on the sales of commercial tyres, unless a dramatic upsurge in the price per unit forced the operator to use tyres for longer than they do now.
The car market, however, is a very different case. Fioy's attitude to remould tyres is, I suspect, the same as that of most other members at the NTDA. He would rather sell new
tyres but, recognising his customer's interests, he acknowledges that retreading makes economic sense for most operators.
At a time when there is capacity to spare at most of the UK tyre plants, it makes sense for the trade to stand by the British manufacturers and refuse to deal with cheap units imported from the Communist bloc. Planned expansion in exports by these countries is said to be in the region of 40 per cent over a four-year period which, if allowed to get a foothold now, will undermine our own industry for the future. BSI and E markings provide consistency in production ar performance standar( throughout Europe, but furth afield the picture is less certai Tubed tyres are still the mc popular, but with vehic manufacturers tending to tubeless tyres to original equi rnent the situation is gradua changing.
Steel radial sales are no cably on the increase in ti replacement market, says Rc for besides offering good we performance, there is usua also a weight saving of up 270kg (600Ibs) per outfit cnd other types. Replacement tyr tend to reflect new vehicle iginal equipment 2 to 3 yeE later, but the growing popular (:)f the steel radial may confu the issue.
New vehicle sales figures 1 January 1978 rose by 30 r cent over the same period 1 last year. Imports, too, i creased to 18.4 per cent of to sales. There may be a drop demand in the commercial ty sector until the influence of ti surge begins to have an effeci
It is not reasonable to exp( anyone other than an expert be able to interpret the ty marking system employed the sidewalls, let alone und stand whether one tyre shoi be used in preference to anotl to fulfil a particular applicatio The public has a right to pect a high degree of profes5 nalism from a service indus just as they should have fri any other walk of life.