Kwik-Fit Fleet is launching a special winter tyre programme for the first time and simultaneously offering corporate customers a ‘hotel’ facility to store their summer tyres when the weather is at its severest.

The independent fast-fit company is urging fleets to plan for winter driving conditions by arranging now for summer tyres fitted to vehicles to be removed in October/November before the snow starts to fall.

The ‘hotel’ facility will see it remove, pack, label and store each vehicle’s summer tyres in its Northamptonshire National Distribution Centre for £40. In the spring, the summer tyres will be returned to each customer’s centre of choice for fitment with the winter tyres removed and stored until required again.

Winter tyres, which are composed of more rubber and less silicone so they don’t harden so much when it is cold, work best in temperatures under seven degrees. They have wider grooves which have greater grip in snow and slush and more sideways grooves to give more edges and contact with the road surface.

That translates into shorter braking distances which reduces the risk of a crash: at 20 mph a car or van equipped with winter tyres will stop 11 metres sooner on icy roads than if fitted with summer tyres; at 30 mph the braking distance on snowy roads is reduced by eight metres.

Peter Lambert, sales director for Kwik-Fit Fleet, explained: “We have launched the special winter tyre programme for the first time this year, because fleet demand for winter tyres has increased in the last two years due to the harsh winters we have seen. As a result, we are advising fleets to plan and book their changeover now as once the snow starts to fall it could be too late.”