What a year it’s been for the weather. With a wet, grey and miserable Summer and then one of the hottest Autumn beginnings on record you could be forgiven if you’ve completely forgotten that Winter is on its way. And with many forecasters predicting cold snaps and snow in only a few weeks time it could be here a lot sooner than you think!
Looking back on the wintry conditions that have landed on UK shores in the previous few years, winter tyres are becoming ever more popular in this country, and are already a legal necessity in some European countries such as Germany.
Manufacturers across the globe have already stepped up production due to the predicted growth in sales of winter tyres this year, but with more orders coming in, and retailers replacing stock which in some cases hasn’t moved off the shelf for years there are fears that in some tyre sizes, there will be a shortage of product.
Winter tyres are able to offer a much greater level of grip to drivers in both ice and snow, and their growing popularity in the UK is not only due to the adverse winter weather seen in recent years, but also due to increased awareness of Winter tyre products as exposure to the consumer increases through both company advertising and safety campaigns designed to highlight their benefits.
So if you’re looking to get your hands on some winter tyres, whether it be onto your shelves or onto your vehicle you better get in there early!
Tyrenet is pleased to announce that it has now gone live with 3PI, in which it has made significant investment along with Cam Systems. 3PI, which stands for 3rd Party Integration, is the latest addition to Tyrenet’s growing Uniserve system which already incorporates state of the art call logging and document management software.
This new addition to the software now allows Tyrenet to streamline its invoicing process with its dealer partners who also use the same Cam developed platform, and as such reduces the time between job and invoice completion to provide both customers and suppliers with a more efficient service.
This increased efficiency can be achieved because 3PI allows suppliers to send their invoice data and worksheet to Tyrenet electronically whilst invoicing a Tyrenet job on their own system, effectively creating their own self billing document. A Tyrenet operator then approves or rejects the invoice, and once accepted the invoice is completed.
This exciting development not only increases efficiency, but also reduces costs as suppliers using the new system no longer have to use fax or post to send paperwork to Tyrenet should they not already use email.
Over the last week or so there has been a huge shock to the system for drivers across the UK. And what is this huge shock I hear you ask (if you hadn’t already inferred it from the title)? Fuel prices are falling!
In fact in just a matter of hours the major supermarkets were embroiled in a price war with prices falling by around 3p per litre on both petrol and diesel. Both Tesco and Morrisons dropped their price almost immediately, with other major retailers following suit. Asda has even gone as far as to lower its prices by a further 0.2p in a clever move which means that drivers save an extra few pence a tank when compared to filling up with a rival. They claim that none of their customers will expect to pay higher than 130.7p per litre across the country for standard unleaded.
This excellent news for all fleets has been brought about after the shock decision by the International Energy Agency to release emergency oil stocks in the leading consumer nations in the West. This decision, only the 3rd of its kind in the history of the agency released 60 million barrels of oil stock, held by governments in the west, over a 30 day period.
The effects of the release were felt across the markets, with world oil prices slumping by 6% within hours of the move being announced.
Fuel prices however are certainly still nowhere near levels which would be deemed ‘cheap’ or ‘good value’ but this temporary reprieve is more than welcome for most if not all vehicle operators. However, to make the most of this drop in price and squeeze as much value as you can out of a tank, make sure you check your tyre pressures!
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