Cold weather tyres keep Tesco home delivery on the move

Switching to Michelin cold weather tyres has significantly improved customer service and increased driver confidence over the past two years according to Tesco.com.

The supermarket’s 3,200-strong fleet of light commercials carries out 500,000 deliveries each week, and was fitted with Michelin’s Agilis Alpin tyres in Autumn 2011 following a number of harsh winters that hit the British Isles.

Now, after experiencing the specialised tyres for two full winters, Dino Papas, fleet and equipment manager at Tesco.com, has said that the tyres have been invaluable in increasing driver safety and ensuring customer deliveries arrive on time.

He said: “We have a long-standing relationship with Michelin and fitting their cold weather tyres has had a considerable positive impact on our customer service levels because we’ve been able to get to our destinations more easily in cold, wet or icy weather.

“When bad weather hits, our default position is to always try our best to reach our customers, so the fact that we have winter tyres on our vehicles gives drivers an extra level of confidence in the safety of their vans and their ability to make customer deliveries on time.”

The supermarket’s home delivery vehicles operate seven days a week for up to 16 hours daily, and Papas believes these types of tyres are more important now than ever before.

He explained: “Trends show that trading hours are getting longer and we are now delivering on an increasing number of days throughout the winter, including bank holidays, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. That means our vans are in demand pretty much every day, so we need to be fully prepared at all times to carry out deliveries in the safest possible manner.

“Because of the decision to fit Michelin cold weather tyres, we were in a significantly better position to get orders to customers when the unexpected weather hit earlier this year. Now we have seen the long-term benefits of winter tyres, it would be difficult to go back to operating without them.”

The Michelin Agilis Alpin tyre, which is designed especially for vans and light commercials, uses a special rubber compound to reduce braking distances and provide extra grip when temperatures fall to seven degrees Celsius or lower.

Tesco.com’s tyres are fitted by ATS Euromaster, with Michelin Solutions carrying out regular fleet-wide inspections.