Chichester District Council renews Bandvulc contract

Chichester District Council has renewed its tyre supply and management contract with Bandvulc, part of Continental Tyres, for its fleet of 26 Mercedes-Benz ‘Econic’ refuse collection vehicles.

The tyre retread company had worked with the local authority for the past four years, offering a complete service on tyre management for its fleet, taking care of four-weekly checks, new tyre fitting, carcass returns and fleet tyre-management reporting.

The council has now taken up the option to extend its agreement for a further two years.

Fleet workshop manager for Chichester District Council, John Hoole, said, “As a public-service operation we take these decisions with great care, looking at safety, economy and service performance levels.

“The stop-start nature of the work and constant contacts with kerbs and other abrasive obstructions can cause tremendous pressures and wear on tyre side walls and ‘shoulders.

"We’re pleased with the tyres and the support service, which are both meeting our needs.”

Its fleet operates across the region, handling a variety of domestic and trade waste collections.

The work, including eventual deliveries into a local transfer station, takes the vehicles onto a challenging mixture of paved urban and town centre roads, industrial sites and off-road tracks.

Bandvulc now fits the Chichester fleet with its Wastemaster tyres, which are specifically constructed to counter the knocks and scuffs the refuse vehicles encounter as part of their everyday operations.

The company's ‘Armorband’ technology offers protection around the sidewall of the tyre, providing an extra safety barrier against curbing, while a coloured internal strip on one side provides an early warning to operators if that barrier is compromised.

The Wastemaster uses Bandvulc’s advanced pattern designs to deliver outstanding product life, automatically lowering pence per kilometre operating cost.

Chichester District Council’s Bandvulc service is fully supported by the team from its Horndean Tyres dealer.

They undertake the four-weekly checks, monitoring wear, damage, pressures and general compound performance.

Based on this they also deliver a full tyre removal and replacement service, taking all used carcasses back to Bandvulc, which reuses them and credits the Chichester District Council as part of its on-going contract.

Hoole added that the tyres and its renewal “makes sense, both environmentally and economically.”