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Better briefing would speed roadside tyre repairs
Page 86
Page 87
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by Trevor Longcroft: photographs by Dick Ross
IF DRIVERS habitually gave more accurate information when calling out tyre service teams, repairs would be speedier, and by inference the bills would be lighter. And if what I was told during a recent visit to Associated Tyre Specialists (Southern) Ltd, Newbury, Berks, is typical, then just a few simple but explicit instructions from managers or supervisory staff are all that's really needed to put the situation right.
In the experience of ATS (Southern) managing director Mr H. A. Oversby, too much time is lost because his fitters either have to return from the breakdown to the depot to get the correct tyre or equipment, or they have to sort through the stores beforehand and take a "guesstimated" selection of tyres out with them.
The cutting of delays is not only a matter of time and cost: roadside work exposes tyre fitters to danger and, especially on motorways in foul weather, the men run real risk of injury. The police, too, are anxious to get stationary vehicles moving expeditiously.
A simple drill can keep roadside time to a minimum. When ringing for tyre assistance, a driver should have to hand an ATS, NTDA or similar service book which establishes his credit-worthiness and gives complete details of the tyres fitted to his vehicle. If he does not have such a book, he should note the size and type of replacement tyre required, its position on the vehicle and any special circumstances of vehicle or terrain, before calling for assistance. He can then brief the receptionist or fitter properly.
If the driver doesn't have a breakdown book, the transaction will usually be on a cash-only basis, unless the vehicle owner's creditworthiness can be established beforehand by phone.
Good nick
It was encouraging to learn that truck operators, in the main, keep their tyres in good condition and that in ATS fitters' experience few failures can be put down to neglect. But, on the other hand, fitters soon learn to expect trailers whose lack of regular service shows up in the immovability of wheel nuts a long tommy bar is needed to shift these.
Special workshop equipment is required to replace big-single tyres, so a spare assembled wheel and tyre is kept at the depot. When a breakdown arises the complete wheel is replaced at the roadside and the damaged tyre removed and replaced at the depot.
All the ATS breakdown trucks carry spare locking rings and flanges in case those fitted to truck or trailer wheels have been lost or distorted when the wheel is run flat.
I went out with the Newbury team, which is one of the nationwide network of tyre service depots run by the Michelin-owned ATS companies. On this particular exercise we encountered no major traffic problem in making roadside repairs, but Mr Oversby emphasized the need for more lay-bys and phones on roads other than motorways. These would enable trucks to be pulled off the road instead of, as often happens, running on to the nearest safe spot and causing further damage. It would also reduce the need for a big vehicle to be parked for repair on the highway.
Mr Oversby criticised the fact that some of the emergency phone numbers given in the NTDA tyre service book could be out of date: many of the night numbers are those of fitter's homes, and if the man leaves the company the tyre distributor ceases to pay for the phone, which is then taken out. This leaves a dead or invalid number in the book until the yearly revision.
ATS (Southern) uses the same number for day and night services, switching over to an Ansafone at night. The Ansafone is programmed to give the phone number of the fitter on call or, if desired, it can be used to give a selection of numbers, enabling the driver in need to ring the nearest.