One such company is Croydon-based PF Whitehead Transport Services Limited. They run a fleet of 39 vehicles from 3.5 tonne panel vans to drawbars and 44 tonne artics, along with conventional curtainsider trailers and high-cube, stepframe tri-axle curtainsiders.

The fleet splits between vehicles in their own colours on general haulage carrying everything from books to beer, to seven that are in the livery of the national overnight palletised load service, Palletways, of which they are a founding member.

Around half the fleet are on dedicated contract work to DIY giants B&Q and to Ikea, providing inter-warehouse trunking and home delivery services and are running in their corporate colours.

"Delays caused by tyre failures are not only costly in terms of call-out charges and replacement costs, but they're also highly disruptive to an intensive delivery operation where tightly-scheduled deliveries are required," explains Fleet Manager Geoff Walker. "When you take account of all the costs involved, an on-road tyre repair or replacement can cost in excess of 500.

"That's why we always fit new tyres and for our predominantly Mercedes-Benz fleet our choice is Continental. They're also the choice of B&Q, who own the 15 Scanias that we operate on their behalf and which are 100 per cent on Continentals, including their Don-Bur demount-bodied drawbar trailers. These operate as drawbars for night trunking and as solo machines for daytime deliveries, so they're very hard-worked trucks.

"We also put a lot of effort into raising driver awareness of the importance of checking tyres during their daily walk-round safety check. A good driver will usually spot a problem, such as low pressures or sidewall damage, and they are encouraged to report it. Tyres are also carefully checked during six-weekly inspections and this gives us early warning of any problems.

"Specifying the right tyres from the outset and maintaining correct pressures for the application are important too. On our three-axle Actros tractors we use Continental HSR tyres on the front and lift axles and HDRs on the drive axles. We keep pressures up at 120 lbs on the front, drop to 90 lbs on the lift axle and back up to 100 lbs on the rearmost drive axle.

"Experience shows that on vehicles that are running full-loaded for most of the time, this delivers very good mileages, typically 200,000 kms over the lifetime of a tyre would not be unusual. It also gives us even wear on tyres on the same axle and we usually find ourselves replacing either the pair on the front or all four on the back at the same time. Traction and stability is improved too and our drivers report that steering is positive with less tendency for understeer, making them confident with the vehicle's handling."

Continental's HDR and HSR tyres have been specially formulated and designed to provide optimum performance in regional traffic conditions. This makes them ideal for the mix of short-distance urban delivery and longer-distance trunking work that many of PF Whitehead's trucks are doing.

The HDRs combine an extremely wide and very deep tread pattern with a closed shoulder to ensure very high mileage. And their multiple transverse edges give good grip in all weather conditions

The HSRs feature finely-structured intermediate sipes that provide good, positive grip when cornering. Continentals specially patented tread groove design helps eject stones and reduce damage. The greater amplitude of the tread groove provides highly effective braking performance, even when the tyres are well worn.