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Marshalls of Sutton-on-Trent run 20 buses and coaches on local stage carriage work, contracted schools services and long-distance UK and Continental touring. Its vehicles range from 29 seat midi-coaches to heavy-duty luxury touring coaches and 86-seater double-deck buses. This variety of vehicle types and size and the different work they each perform places widely differing demands on the tyres. “We work in close partnership with our local tyre supplier and ContiNetwork Partner Tanvic Tyre and Service Centre at Newark,” says Fleet Engineer Paul Marshall, whose father John started the business in 1989. “We discuss our tyre needs in detail with their tyre specialist, Peter Sampson, who doesn’t simply look at a list in a catalogue before giving his advice. He takes account of the type of work a vehicle will be doing – whether it’s stop-start bus operation or long-distance touring. He’ll even ask us to weigh vehicles to ensure that correct tyre pressures can be precisely determined as this can be critical to the overall performance and fuel efficiency of a vehicle. “Once we’ve determined the best type of tyre and fitted them, we pursue a rigid regime of six-weekly inspections that includes visual inspection, tread depth measurement and tyre pressures checks. “We always fit new and we always fit in pairs on the same axle, usually the front. This then allows us to re-cut the tyres that have come off the front and put them on the back. Once the re-cut tyres are down to 5mm we replace them. “Continental are our preferred make because we know we get a high quality tyre and at a competitive price. They also use a composition that makes re-cutting relatively easy to carry out, which we do ourselves. Mileages are good too and we generally get up to 200,000 kilometres of life out of a tyre, after which they go back to Tanvic who send them for re-mixing. They give us a rebate for the casings, which contributes to the cost of the new tyres.” As well as its network of local stage carriage services the company is a major provider of school services to Nottinghamshire County Council, with 13 vehicles dedicated to this work every school day. “Safety is especially important when you’re carrying large numbers of children,” says Paul. “And this makes it all the more important that our tyres and our tyre management system is of a high quality. “The performance we get from our Continentals is excellent. The tyres themselves are long-lasting and this is backed by the advice and support we get from Pete, which contributes significantly to getting the most out of them. “We make savings by getting the specification right from the outset, from fuel savings resulting from determining and maintaining the precisely correct pressures, and from our ability to easily and quickly re-cut. Most important though is that we get peace of mind from knowing that our passengers, young and old, are carried in complete safety.” Tanvic Tyre and Service Centre is an active member of the ContiNetwork, the no.1 independent truck tyre service network in the UK and Ireland, and operates a chain of seven outlets across the East Midlands. It can provide a range of tyre services in line with the Continental Tyres ‘ContiLifeCycle’ tyre management concept. This is aimed at maximising the tyre asset by first specifying the appropriate tyre for the application, then re-grooving followed by re-treading, and ending with responsible tyre disposal for recycling. The company can supply Continental tyres for every type of vehicle from cars and light commercials to agricultural machinery, heavy trucks and passenger vehicles. It also operates a 24-hour mobile tyre fitting service.
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