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FLEET TYRE MANAGEMENT
VFM: Vacu-Lug’s Comprehensive Fleet Management Package
Vacu-Lug Tyres Ltd has a long history as one of the country’s leading tyre retread companies. Indeed, today, the company manufactures over 130,000 truck and light truck retreads at its factory in Grantham. However, these days, the company aims to spread its net
and the recently acquired Tyre Equipment Company, a supplier of tyre trade related equipment and consumables.
Central to Vacu-Lug’s operations, though is VFM (Vacu-Lug Fleet Management), a bespoke tyre fleet management and data storage
Dave Alsop
much wider than the retread market. Indeed, Vacu-Lug’s stated goal is to become the UK's first- choice single-source tyre solutions provider by “providing the best products and exceptional value for money”.
According to Fleet Sales Director Dave Alsop, one of Vacu-Lug’s key strengths is the wide range of business areas in which the company is active. In addition to its retreading operations, Vacu-Lug is the sole UK distributor for Yokohama truck and earthmover tyres as well as for Westlake truck tyres. It also has close working relationships with Hankook and Pirelli. In addition VacuLug owns two subsidiary equipment companies, Grumac, who specialise in supplies for the retreading market
system designed to assist in the effective management of vehicle fleets. VFM captures detailed information on all tyre and service related activities including transactional and financial details at wheel position level. It details service provider, date, time and location of work carried out, job sheet number, the reason for removal, tread depths, serial numbers of removed tyres and new tyres fitted, the destination of casings and any other service work carried out. It records and notifies service providers of the designated tyre and husbandry policy for each Vacu-Lug customer, which is vehicle specific. Hand held electronic inspection units transfer fleet inspection data directly into the VFM system, from where a bespoke
range of reports can be generated. The system is also compatible with other data capture technologies. VFM holds all pricing related to specific contracts including policy preferences and service costs which are updated regularly following customer review meetings. It validates supplier invoices against work authorised and creates accurate invoicing in line with any contractual agreement. Customers receive direct access to the web based
VFM System via a secure log-in. Reports are available online on a 24/7 basis, but can equally be downloaded and saved to Excel and/or incorporated within other popular applications, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint.
All this means an operator can analyse fleet data, live, up to the last transaction, in summary or in detail, see accurate vehicle costs, see inspection data identifying any missed vehicles, have total visibility
of spend, identify high cost areas, produce regular management reports and view costs by location, benchmarking a fleet’s performance. The Vacu-Lug Fleet Management service is backed up by VFM Tyre Rescue, the company’s nationwide emergency tyre breakdown service, which is available 24/7, 365-days a year.