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The Cheltenham company is using Continental Tyres’ HSR tyres on steer axles on its 48 tractors and HTRs on its 110 reefer trailers. Continental designed the HSR – Heavy Truck, Steering, Regional – to meet the needs of medium distance operators. Ralph Davies International’s trucks each cover around 140,000 kilometres a year and Graham Harding, Fleet Engineer, says that the HSRs are performing well and suit their type of operation. “They’re giving us a first life mileage of between 160,000 and 180,000 kilometres,” he says. “They’re also wearing very flat and square right down to a 3mm tread depth. As a result the good quality casings can be used for second life processing, although we only ever put new on steer axles. The decent return for the casings also contributes towards the low PPK cost of each tyre.” The HSR has been designed with a large tread area to distribute the ground pressure equally, resulting in even wear across the face of the tyre. On steer tyres good adhesion is critically important, particularly in the wet, and sipes in the central ribs help disperse water quickly and ensure optimum grip. The wide, open tread grooves also help prevent stone trapping, leading to longer tyre life. Ralph Davies International specialises in temperature-controlled distribution for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Its modern fleet of tri-axle reefers are all on air suspension and Continental’s HTR tyre is the choice for these. The HTR – Heavy truck, Trailer, Regional – tyre is designed to cope with varying load conditions whilst maintaining a high safety margin. Like the HSR, it has a specially designed tread groove to prevent stone trapping and protect the high quality casing for future re-grooving. Saturday is tyre inspection day at Ralph Davies International so all vehicles are checked regularly. Due to the intensive checks carried out in house and the emphasis the company places on tyres any potential problems are highlighted in the workshop and immediate action is taken before the trucks start their week’s work. Continental tyres are supplied to Ralph Davies International by ATS and neighbouring independent tyre dealers.
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