navvies Tired Tyres?
News article and arrange a tyre replacement now! When you find the four digit number, the first two digits indicate the week number and the second two digits indicate the year. So for example if it says ‘3017’ then the tyre was manufactured in week 30 of 2017. One other thing to note: if you are using retread tyres (sometimes known as remoulds), then the date of the retread process is used rather than the original manufacture date, and it will be this date that is on the sidewall.
Yes, it is an old pun, but that has never stopped me before. Legislation came in on 1 February to ban tyres over 10 years old in certain circumstances, these are: 1: The front steered axle of any HGV, bus or coach 2: Any single wheel fitted to a minibus (i.e. it does not apply to dual rear wheels) Related to this it is also a requirement for all tyres fitted to these vehicles to have a legible date code. If the date code is missing or illegible on a tyre that comes under these new rules then the vehicle will fail its annual test; if the date code is missing or illegible on a tyre that is fitted to one of the above vehicles but not affected by the legislation (e.g. on a dual rear wheel axle) then a minor fault will be recorded (what was previously known as an ‘advisory’). What does this mean in practice? Well, leaving aside HGVs, buses or coaches (where your designated transport manager will / should already have this well in hand), if you are running a minibus (whether owned privately, by a charity, by a business or hired in) then you need to make sure your tyres are up to date. Note that the legal definition of a minibus is 9 or more passenger seats (not including the driver) which means the majorAbove: where to find the date code. Below: ity of canal society vehicles will not actually this tyre was made in week 38 of year 2017 be affected by this change. That said, although none of the WRG fleet (which have at most 8 passenger seats) come under this new law, we have made the decision to comply with it voluntarily and my personal view is that anyone running a vehicle should do the same – I have been the driver of a large vehicle when a front tyre (despite visually being fine at the start of the journey) let go, almost certainly due to age deterioration. It was not a pleasant experience and I was very lucky no-one got hurt. To check the age of your tyres, you need to find the date code. This is a four digit number embossed on the side wall of the tyre, normally within an oval outline. Note if all you can find is a three digit number then the tyre was manufactured before 2000 - in which case stop reading this
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