Campaign for Better Tyres to focus on public sector

The Campaign for Better Tyres, run by the charity Environmental Protection UK, is now entering its second phase where it will be focussing its efforts on public sector vehicle fleets.

The campaign will use freedom of information requests to find out about tyre policies in public fleets and call for political pressure to drive improvements where necessary.

Previously the campaign has been working with the commercial sector in order to raise awareness about new tyre labelling and promote the choice of more energy efficient, lower noise and safer tyres.

Fleet managers have been encouraged to put the use of quality tyres into their operational policies. One such fleet that has demonstrated their full support for the Campaign for Better Tyres is the London minicab firm Addison Lee.

They have now made it a part of their tyre procurement and maintenance policy to follow the Campaign’s official advice. For procurement, this is to use tyres that are labelled grades A-C for rolling resistance and wet grip with one sound bar for noise.

For maintenance this includes regular checks to ensure good tyre pressure, tread depth and wheel alignment.

The Campaign for Better Tyres has also started some work that covers both the commercial and public sectors.

Working with TFL’s FORS (Freight, soon to be Fleet Operator’s Recognition Scheme) the campaign has developed a template tyre policy to be used by all FORS members.

As well as many private companies this also includes nearly all of the London Boroughs so already a significant amount of public sector vehicles are set to benefit.

It is hoped that by the end of this phase of the campaign more mandatory tyre procurement and maintenance standards will be introduced for government departments and agencies.

The final phase of the Campaign for Better Tyres will focus on individual consumers, raising awareness of the new tyre labelling and the benefits of good maintenance. This is due to start later this month.

For more information see www.bettertyres.org.uk.