By Oliver Hall

A company boss had her new car tyres slashed after her staff were threatened with the loss of their jobs unless they quit their union.

Car logistics company Autologic wrote to its 280 drivers and demanded they give up their membership of Unite or face redundancy if they refused.

The tyres on the £60,000 Porsche Cayenne, delivered to the company’s managing director, Avril Palmer-Baunack, during the dispute, have since been reportedly slashed.

The extraordinary row has blown up after a leaked letter from Autologic was revealed. Despite clocking up more than 20 years experience in the industry, Ms Palmer-Baunack’s, letter is seen as incendiary.

In the leaked letter Autologic accused Unite’s shop stewards of “looking after themselves handsomely”.

The letter stated: “Autologic can offer you good pay, good conditions and a good future. The trade union can offer you tea and biscuits when you’ve lost your job.

“We will not be able to offer job security and good futures unless the trade union stranglehold on this company is removed.”

A spokesman for Autologic said: “It has been disappointing that the engagement process with trade union representatives, so far, has been unconstructive.”

Unite has not ruled out legal and industrial action against the firm. A spokesman said: “I have never seen a letter like this in my 25 years in the industry. Unite will take all legal and industrial action to protect its members.”

Police forces around the country regularly organise car safety checks on our roads to make sure drivers are not breaking the law with everything from tyres to tax under scrutiny.

But in Abu Dhabi the Police Traffic Department launched a massive crackdown seizing 61 vehicles for one week and fining their owners for dodgy tyres after a major safety campaign.

The traffic police stepped up their efforts to curb the use of damaged tyres and those which don’t conform to legal specifications in a bid to cut down road traffic accidents.

Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Al Shehi, director of the traffic and patrol department at Abu Dhabi Police revealed that bursting tyres are one of the main reasons behind major traffic accidents which often result in deaths and critical injuries.

He said four people were killed and 30 others injured in 20 accidents due to burst tyres.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

The US is playing catch-up with Europe and Asia and getting ready to pass legislation banning the installation of lead tyres weights by 2011.

The amended tyres bill passing through Washington’s state Senate will require dealers to use alternatives like zinc or steel alloy.

Republican Tom Campbell, R-Roy, the prime sponsor of the bill said “The Asian and European car makers have used alternative wheel weights for years now. We are just catching up to them.”

Lead is highly toxic, Campbell says, and it only makes sense to use less hazardous alternatives. It has been linked to brain damage and other nervous system damage, particularly in young children.

Etyres only use zinc weights. When we change tyres we rebalance the wheels and when doing this we remove the old lead balancing weights and replace with new zinc ones.

The amended bill now goes back to the House, which is expected to approve it. It then goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire to be signed into law.

Katherine Clarkson, National Accounts

Denna Bowman

Bridgestone tyres have dominated the headlines this weekend with the controversial super-soft compounds for the Chinese Grand Prix.

But now the Japanese tyres maker is also making headlines in the publishing world after unveiling its colour ePaper display.

Its prototype is even being hotly tipped to revolutionise the technology behind the electronic paper system by industry experts, according to PC Pro computer magazine.

The magazine reports on its website that although ePaper displays are already making their mark in eBook readers, they are currently hampered by one to two second refresh times, and their black and white displays.

However, despite being better known for its tyres than its technology, Bridgestone’s latest prototype display may solve many of these problems.

Breaking with the E Ink crowd, Bridgestone has developed its own QR-LPD full-colour 13in display. As with E Ink the display only uses power when changing screen, but unlike E Ink the screen refreshes every 0.8 seconds, allowing for smooth text entry using a stylus pen and smooth animations, graphics and screen transitions.

Bridgestone has revealed that the majority of its development time has been spent achieving that 0.8 second screen refresh. Its previous prototype screen was A4-sized and required around 10 to 15 seconds to refresh the page.

However, Bridgestone has not revealed any dates for a commercial release and has stressed that it’s still currently in prototype stage.

By Alex Kapadia

Despite his worries about the super soft tyres, Sebastian Vettel raged through torrential rain to a sensational victory at Shanghai this morning with his Red Bull team mate Mark Webber taking second place.

However, Brawn GP blamed the fact they could not get enough heat into their tyres for their first defeat of the season.

Despite his ‘shuddering’ tyres, world championship world leader Jenson Button still managed third place and a place on the podium, while his team made Rubens Barrichello took fourth.

But Ross Brawn said after the Chinese Grand Prix: “We were struggling with tyre temperature after the safety car came in.

“That may have been a factor because when the cars came out after pitstops it didn’t seem too bad, and when we could got temperature it was okay. Rubens actually had the fastest lap.”

The torrential rain led to plenty of excitement with plenty of spinning and aquaplaning as many of the drivers ripped through their tyres.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton managed sixth position for McLaren after he admitted he struggled at times to get his wet tyres working properly.

Officials are demanding the right to use James Bond-style tracking devices to catch criminals suspected of illegally dumping tyres and other rubbish.

Unknown to most of us, the Environmental Agency had been using the bugs for years to track down people dodging strict disposal rules when they get rid of material such as tyres, rubble and asbestos.

But their use was suspended recently after a warning by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners watchdog that their use was unlawful.

But now the Environment Agency officers wants the right to bug organised criminal gangs who con construction firms and others into paying to have their waste taken away only for it to be dumped in fields or warehouses.

The agency is so convinced it is a necessary step that it is threatening to go to court to have the issue resolved in a test case.

However, critics claim it is another infringement of civil liberties and that if the technology is given the go-ahead again it could also be used on softer targets.

The row is expected to run for many weeks, but etyres remains committed to its disposal of tyres in an environmentally friendly way.

We have a firm policy on the disposal of the scrap tyres but this has been reinforced by the introduction of a very strict audit of each of our approved scrap tyre collection contractors.

Oliver Hall, Operations Team

A smart new gizmo that monitors the pressure in your car tyres has sparked interest at The Gadget Show Live 2009.

The gadget Tyresure is a system for wirelessly (via Radio) monitoring the pressure on each of the tyres for vehicles including cars, bike and vans.

It is billed as saving fuel, tyre wear and ultimately, lives.

The system works by having a sensor and transmitter placed inside of each wheel - and then a receiver inside the vehicle - either permanently attached, or turned on when needed.

The logic is sound, since tyres being wrongly inflated means exta wear, more fuel, and also more accidents.

As Tyresure say: ‘The T.P.M.S system constantly monitors tyre pressure and temperature.
The system alerts the driver when tyre pressure or tyre temperatures are abnormal. It is totally wireless and CE Certified.’

In the USA the T.P.M.S was required to be fitted by law on new vehicles from September 2007 and many European vehicles already have this system installed.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

By Oliver Hall

Michelin has taken a bold step and engaged an independent testing organisation to compare its tyres to other premium brands.

The French tyres maker wants to produce comparative data on Energy Saver, Primacy HP and cold weather Primacy Aplin PA3.

According to Tyres and Accessories magazine: ‘With worldwide automotive manufacturers feeling simultaneous and significant economic and ecological pressure, remaining at the cutting edge in terms of research and development is vital for the premium brands to create a sense of worth necessary to continue selling tyres at the upper end of the pricing sheet.

‘As a significant factor in achieving this goal, the Michelin Group earmarks 600 million Euros for research and development annually.’

Michelin is outsourcing the testing to the DEKRA Test Centre, based in Narbonne, France.
The 2009 tests will compare the Michelin products with examples from the ranges of premium brand manufacturers Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear and Pirelli.

The results are expected to be published in May.

Sebestian Vettel has grabbed Red Bull’s first ever pole position – despite being the latest driver to voice his concerns over the super soft tyres rolled out for the Chinese Grand Prix tomorrow.

The tyres have been the story of the weekend with many drivers complaining they are not suitable for the circuit.

After practise, he commented: ‘The main task here for all the teams and drivers is to manage the different tyre compounds. As you can see, graining is the main issue, but thankfully I have my helmet and visor, which protects my eyes as the rubber is coming off!”

But they didn’t stop Vettel taking pole and his team-mate Mark Webber lining up in third after a thrilling qualifying session in Shanghai yesterday.

In another twist, Renault’s Fernando Alonso, who led the attack on the super soft tyres allocated for the third race of the season ‘ridiculous’.

But the Red Bull achievement is seen as a symbolic development in the sport, because it shows the new rules and regulations brought in to spice the action up on the track are working.

The traditional powerhouse teams, such as Ferrari and McLaren, have struggled to gain momentum and points, while the likes of Brawn GP and now Red Bull have seized the initiative.

Can’t wait for tomorrow!

Alex Kapadia, Operations Team

By Katherine Clarkson

More than 40 people die on the roads every year because of improperly inflated or defective tyres, according to the RAC.

Drivers need to be aware that while the legal minimum tread depth stands at 1.6mm, a tyres performance can be seriously affected in the rain if it has a tread of less than 3mm, the motoring organisation stressed.

The RAC urges all motorists to be more aware of their tyres to avoid unnecessary risks on the roads.

And in a bid to raise awareness of the issues surrounding proper tyres care and maintenance, the RAC added that under-inflated tyres can also affect the fuel efficiency of a vehicle.

Philip Gomm, RAC Foundation spokesman, said: ‘If they are under-inflated fuel economy is cut by as much as 10 per cent because of the extra resistance with the road.’

The EU claims that up to 30 per cent of fuel used by cars is to overcome the resistance of tyres.