Truck operators who travel to Europe throughout the winter season need to ensure that their tyres and vehicles comply with local legislation.
These vary greatly from country to country in western Europe and drivers may suffer financial penalties or even be prevented from travelling through certain areas if they don’t adhere to the regulations.
To help simplify the issue, Continental Tyres has produced an update to its Winter Tyre Guide, which highlights the different tyre requirements truck operators from the UK and Ireland will encounter when operating in Europe this winter.
The guide also advises operators on best practise for fitting winter tyres to ensure vehicles stay safe in wintry conditions.
For example, during the winter months Continental would advise that truck tyres across all axle positions should have a minimum tread depth of at least 4mm. Further, to ensure maximum safety and vehicle performance, if winter tyres are not fitted all round then priority should be given first to the drive axle, then the steer axle and then to all other remaining axle positions.
Tracey Hyem, Commercial Marketing Manager at Continental said: “Our recently updated range of winter tyres fulfill a number of important criteria for operators. Certainly they will ensure that vehicles can operate legally within each country as well as safely, with up to 20% more traction than standard tyres, but an additional benefit is that the improved traction delivers far better fuel consumption too.”
Further information on the correct use of winter tyres as well as a country by country guide to tyre legislation this winter, is available free to all as a download from the Continental website at www.conti-online.co.uk/truck
