Page 10 - CTB N14 - 2016-02

NEWS
Continental Smooths the Way Forward for Campfreight
Kevin Lawton Appointed Michelin solutions Bus and Coach Sales Manager
CommercialTyre
Management
and Fleet Business
Michelin solutions has appointed Kevin Lawton, 47, as UK and Republic of Ireland Bus and Coach Sales Manager.
The veteran Michelin employee assumes the role after a nearly six- year stint as UK Operations Manager, firstly at Michelin Fleet Solutions, before continuing with the same role when Michelin solutions was launched in 2013. The role will see Lawton working closely with Michelin solutions’ customers to ensure an excellent quality of service across the company’s 32,000 contracted bus and coach assets. He will also focus on extending the company’s unique tyre management solutions to prospective customers.
Lawton has previously held a number of roles at Michelin, including Repair and Retread Earthmover and Agricultural Tyres Technician and Product Marketing Technical Manager.
He also worked as a Michelin
Competition Technician, supporting Ford, Peugeot and Vauxhall’s involvement in the British Rally Championship, and Alfa Romeo, Ford, Peugeot and Vauxhall in the British Touring Car Championship.
Lawton is married with two children and will continue to be based at Michelin solutions’ UK headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent.
Leading specialist fuel oil delivery operator, Campfreight Limited, based in New Ross, has turned a trial of Continental tyres four years ago into a money-saving, safety-improving policy. The company delivers fuel for industry, direct from terminals at Dublin, Cork and Foynes to fuel depots, service stations, commercial premises and ship bunkering.
Managing director, George O’Leary, is satisfied to be able to report significant fuel improvements as well as outstanding mileage performance with the Continental tyres now fitted to the fleet’s drive and trailer axles – “Rolling resistance is just so much lower than other tyres we used in the past” – there is, he says, another key benefit from the Continental tyres. “My biggest saving is that I don’t get the blow-outs we used to have with the previous tyres fitted. The
big issue outside of the cost for an early morning call out was if a tyre had a blow-out it could even take the mudguard and hose rail with it.
“So we needed tyres we could rely on to do the job and cut the risks of this sort of incident to the very minimum. I’m satisfied that these Continental tyres have been doing what we expect them to do since the first days of the initial trial and throughout each year since. “The Continental tyres also wear extremely well,” he adds, “and that means we are seeing far fewer tyre changes, which again saves cost.”
At the moment, Campfreight runs Continental tyres on all drive (HD Hybrid) and trailer axles (HTR2). These are supplied through local dealers and fitted by another local company, and O’Leary says he now has plans to complete the fleet’s set-up with steer axle tyres from Continental.
ATS Euromaster Appoints New Managing Director
ATS Euromaster has appointed Jerome Monsaingeon as its new Managing Director after 36 years in managerial roles within the Michelin Group, most recently as Managing Director of SMPT, a Michelin subsidiary based in Singapore.
He has also overseen supply chain change management for Europe and served as Michelin world key account manager with Peugeot-Citroën. Previous positions also encompassed major managerial roles in Europe and the Far East, including Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Monsaingeon says: “ATS Euromaster is not only about providing the best quality products, it is also about providing the best quality customer service. I am relishing the opportunity to further consolidate ATS Euromaster’s fantastic reputation as the safest and most skilled tyre and vehicle maintenance services provider in the country.”
Jerome Monsaingeon takes over the role from Peter Allen, who is taking up a new opportunity with the Michelin Group in the USA.
New Truck Tyre Website from Goodyear
Goodyear is re-launching its commercial vehicle website across all countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in local languages to help fleet operators select the truck tyres and truck tyre-related services to suit their operations and reduce operating costs. The newly designed website truck.goodyear.eu, which is available now, also gives useful advice to help vehicle operators obtain an optimum return in investment from their tyres.
At truck.goodyear.eu visitors to
the site can access information in their local language on new Goodyear truck tyres, retreading including premium mould cure TreadMax and Next Tread, ServiceLine24 h international roadside assistance, TruckForce, the 2,000-strong European network of service providers, FleetOnlineSolutions, the internet-based tyre management programme and truck tyre dealer locations, in addition to advice and in-depth information on Goodyear truck tyres.
10 Commercial Tyre Business