Decorpanel Ltd, specialist distributors and converters of wood based panel products, are switching their forklift truck fleet to Continental Tyres after having seen a marked improvement in mileage results. The fleet, consisting of six Linde trucks ranging from three to five tons, has seen an extra three months of tyre life being achieved on trucks running on Continental tyres versus the previous tyre choice.

Based in Tyne and Wear, Decorpanel supply the furniture and building industries with a wide range of wood products. Due to the demanding work on site, involving uneven surfaces, regular cornering and long operating cycles, the company had seen tyres on their forklift trucks wearing at an unsatisfactory rate.

North East Tyre Fitter, Gary Mugridge, now of Linde Castle, offered to solve the problem with a trial run of Continental's SC20 tyres, confident through past experience that the SC20 would deliver high mileage.

"We had seen the hard wearing SC20 deliver excellent mileage in a variety of challenging environments. We were confident that the customer would see real returns and that we could secure this business from a competitor brand based on both our service and the strength of the Continental product that we recommended."

Decorpanel Ltd have seen some excellent returns in performance which has led to the business being won and retained by Linde Castle and the fleet being switched exclusively to Continental SC20 solid tyres. The next truck to be converted is Decorpanel Ltd's H45, shortly to be fitted with 300-15 SC20 tyres, with the H50 to follow soon after.

Anthony Hopps, co-owner of Decorpanel Ltd, said; "Linde Castle and Continental Tyres are a winning combination when it comes to tyre supply for our fleet. We have been so impressed with the wear. Our three ton H30D trucks are seeing almost three months of extra tyre life but the most impressive results can be seen on the larger five ton H50D trucks where, after two years, we still have yet to replace some of the tyres - that is over seven months more wear than the previous brand with tread rubber still remaining."

Continental's SC20 tyre forms part of their Super Elastic range and sets the benchmark in terms of economy and environmental performance. The outstanding features of this innovative tyre speak for themselves - 20% higher mileage, 30% reduced rolling resistance and 5% lower CO2 emissions (compared to its highly successful predecessor, the SC 15) make the SC20 a sound investment. The SC20 also leads the way in safety and stability with its optimised cross-section. The two circumferential longitudinal grooves, combined with the unique tread pattern, provide improved driver comfort with greater stability and safety when carrying loads and negotiating corners.

Premium solid tyres, such as the Continental SC20, help to reduce overall operating costs through greater tread volume which increases service life, low rolling resistance which minimises fuel consumption and optimised tread patterns and compounds to reduce wear rate.