Lex now operates a fleet of more than 180,000 company cars and light commercial vehicles, which means the contract involves fitting more than two million tyres over the next three years.
Kwik-Fit Fleet, the U.K. and Europe’s largest independent fast-fit supplier, will continue to supply a comprehensive range of services to Lex through its 200-strong mobile fleet and near 700-strong nationwide centre network.
The focal point of the contract, which extends the sole supply Kwik-Fit Fleet and Lex business relationship well into a second decade, is a tyre contract, although a range of other mechanical services, including brake, battery and exhaust repair and replacement will also be provided.
Lex utilises Kwik-Fit Fleet’s tyre management programme that sees the fast-fit supplier capture all tyre maintenance history by vehicle registration with the leasing company receiving a full download of all transactions undertaken.
Information on tread depths of tyres removed, brands and size of tyres fitted, mileage of vehicle at time of replacement and the reason for tyre replacement are all captured by Kwik-Fit electronically. The way the information is captured and stored by Kwik-Fit Fleet allows Lex to populate its internal systems with tyre maintenance history at the push of a button.
Paul Kerrigan, head of Lex Customer Care and Supplier Development, said: “Our tyre contract is still revolutionary as we pay a fixed monthly sum per car per month, which makes managing the tyre part of our maintenance budget easier. If we could manage our entire multi-million pound maintenance budget in this way, it would make our lives much easier. We also benefit from some very useful management information that we can use to track vehicle usage and tyre performance.”
Not only does Lex enjoy budgeted tyre cost control but the company has access to a 24-hour specialised call centre and a team of highly trained tyre authorisation staff, while company car drivers can access a dedicated helpline.
Kwik-Fit Fleet’s mobile tyre fitting service now fits around 40 per cent of Lex drivers’ tyres at their office or home and carries out tyre checks on hundreds of Lex cars each month. Kwik-Fit Fleet sales director Nigel Davies said: “We have worked with Lex for many years to develop ideas, processes and systems to enable efficient fleet management on behalf of customers.
“In an inflationary marketplace, we have both worked together to control and reduce costs through spare tyre utilisation, regular vehicle inspections, tight authorisation systems and an open and honest business relationship that benefits our mutual customers. The contract extension shows how two major fleet industry companies can work together to reduce paperwork and costs for end users.”
