For fleet operators who have many vehicles to maintain and run, manage operating costs is of great importance. They constantly need to ensure their vehicles are in good order, operational costs are minimized and goods are delivered on time. If savings can be achieved for one vehicle, they can also be replicated for other vehicles in the fleet and reduce costs, especially for fuel.
Continental Tyres has developed Conti360º solutions that can help commercial vehicle operators who face multiple challenges in managing large sized fleets. Being a tyre company, the area where they can help most is the tyres which play an important role in a vehicle’s running efficiency. With tyres specifically, proper tyre inflation will result in the optimum fuel consumption, optimum mileage and better tyre casing value for operators. Continental estimates that a vehicle which travels 100,000 kms with the tyres just 10% under-inflated could increase fuel and mileage costs alone by up to RM3,100 annually.
A survey conducted by Continental in Malaysia showed that 20% of fleet tyres are severely under-inflated while 38% were moderately under-inflated. This could lead to tyre damage, worse fuel consumption, reduced tyre life and an increased risk of tyre breakdowns while on the road. The latter would, of course, affect delivery schedules and upset customers. According to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), one of top 5 reasons in crash occurrence in heavy commercial vehicles were tyre-related issues.
Conti360º offers 3 services and solutions for fleet operators to address these challenges and the complexity of tyre management so they can focus on their core business. The three offerings – Core Services, Advanced Services and Digital Solutions – cover a variety of services and solutions including training, on-site support, and real-time tyre monitoring to help fleet managers operate more efficiently.
With Conti360º Core Services, the Continental technical team conducts an analysis on operators’ fleet tyres to provide feedback on tyre performance, sharing industry-best tyre maintenance practices on efficient tyre handling and assisting in specialized driver training. The training modules for drivers focus on the importance of driver behaviour, good tyre usage and maintenance practices, and the significance of good pressure maintenance.
Conti360º Advanced Services provides fleets with ContiFleetCheck, a comprehensive health-check solution where the Continental technical team will perform routine inspections using advanced digital tools which relay data to proprietary systems for in-depth analysis of tyre conditions including pressure and tread depth. This active engagement provides managers with an overview of their fleet’s tyre efficiency, identifies trends and patterns of common causes of failures observed in the tyres, identifies areas for cost reductions and provides recommendations to be taken to further increase tyre life.
Finally, Conti360º Digital Solutions is an end-to-end completely automated offering with sensors that enable 24/7 monitoring of tyres on the road. Fleet managers are then kept abreast and alerted via an online portal and analytics dashboards on potential punctures, pressure loss, tread depth and so on, to help them manage tyres, prolong tyre life and increase vehicle safety on the road.
“Though tyres contribute only 5% to a fleet’s costs, they do influence around 50% of the fleet’s operational costs through fuel consumption, repairs and maintenance, and administration. Conti360º is designed specifically to minimize these costs and caters to the diverse needs of our customers depending on their fleet size and operating conditions,” said Winson Khoo Han Kee, National Sales Manager of Trucks & Tyres at Continental Tyre Malaysia.
“Customers who implemented Conti360º solutions have realised savings in the form of reduced fuel expenses by up to 3%, and increased tyre mileage by 20% while seeing significant increase in vehicle and driver safety,” he added.
According to Andrea Somorova, Managing Director of Continental Tyre Malaysia, the aim of Continental is to move beyond the transactional relationship so often associated with commercial tyres, and transcend into a technology-backed, value-added services and functional partnership with our commercial fleet customers.
“The technology within Conti360º will help our customers maximise their investments on tyres while deriving benefit from long-term after sales technical support and performance monitoring. Conti360º solutions is the next step in fleet management operations. Our investment in the development of these technologies, is our continuous commitment to our commercial and fleet customers to address real challenges so they can better meet their business goals,” she said.
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