Bridgestone issues yard debris warning
Thousands of costly punctures on motorways across England could be prevented in a matter of minutes if commercial fleets took the time to check their yards for bolts, nails and screws, an exclusive study by Bridgestone has suggested.
The tyre giant has revealed the results of a two-year study into debris-related punctures across five of its biggest fleet customers in England.
Utilising overhead satellite heat maps and daily checks, Bridgestone discovered 504 items of debris across the five sites, 200 of which were ‘medium to high risk’ hazards and were the potential sources of puncture-related tyre removals thereafter.
Bridgestone says its Fleet Debris Study is the first of its kind to ever be compiled, and is a follow-up to its 2018 Tyre Debris Study Report.
The presence of 102 high-risk and 98 medium-risk items of debris in this research validates the findings of the 2018 report, says the firm, which found that 56 per cent of the tyres analysed had failed due to road hazards including penetrations due to sharp objects.
In light of this latest research, Bridgestone is urging commercial fleets to utilise magnetic road sweepers, driver walk-around checks and daily visual inspections of their yards to significantly reduce the risk of costly punctures.
The company reports that depots that didn’t use a road sweeper as part of their housekeeping practices had the highest number of debris collected.
The highest amount of debris accumulated across the five fleets were in the vehicle washing areas, which could be the result of parts becoming dislodged as vehicles were being cleaned. Considerable debris was also found in loading and unloading bays, which Bridgestone believes could be the result of drivers sweeping debris off their vehicles.
Bridgestone’s north region technical manager Gary Powell, who headed up the Fleet Debris Study, hoped the findings would prompt commercial fleets to implement some simple inspection measures to keep their drivers safe and make significant savings, both in terms of expense and time.
“We’re extremely proud of this study, as it gives the biggest insight yet into the risks that are present on forecourts every single day,” said Gary.
“The aim was to determine the amount of debris present in fleet depots and to ascertain the risk and we believe we have a body of work that removes any ambiguity when it comes to commercial fleet yard management.
“Higher amounts of debris collected at some of the depots inspected could be attributed to the lack of good housekeeping and tyre husbandry practices. It was noted that depots which employed a road-sweeper, were successful at significantly reducing the amount of debris and specifically high-risk debris items like bolts and nails.”
Mark Cartwright, head of commercial vehicle incident prevention at National Highways, said: “Just as charity starts at home, then puncture prevention also clearly starts at the yard. This report is so valuable in drawing the attention of truck and van operators and owners to their responsibilities in ensuring they aren’t damaging their tyres before joining our roads. We would strongly encourage operators to ensure their tyre damage isn’t self-inflicted.
Bridgestone’s Fleet Debris Study is part of the company’s commitment to road safety and is part of its broader corporate commitment – the Bridgestone E8 Commitment – that defines the value the company is promising to deliver to society, customers, and future generations in eight focus areas.
