Online supermarket Ocado has signed up to Bridgestone’s Blizzak W810 winter tyres to keep its 1,500-plus van fleet on the road in all four seasons.
Part of a tyre partnership between the two firms until 2020, the Blizzak W810 was chosen by Ocado after tests showed it performed highly in all conditions while providing maximum payload for each van thanks to its lightweight construction.
Ocado’s fleet service manager Graham Thomas said: “We hadn’t looked at changing our tyre supplier in the past, but we got to the stage where we wanted to understand the other options available on the market. Bridgestone impressed us from our first discussions as they had a team who paid particularly close attention to detail and the weight of their Blizzak W810 product is ideal for us too, as it helps maintain maximum payload for our 3.5t van fleet.
“The performance of the tyre was very good. Staying with a tyre all year round was desirable, following our own reviews and the nature of the journeys we make.”
The new deal also provides Ocado with maintenance across 20 different sites through the Bridgestone Partner network, with the network’s flexibility and rapid response times proving major factors behind the decision.
Bridgestone’s national fleet executive Neil Collison said: “This is a huge fleet partnership for us, as we want to increase our presence in the van market and demonstrate our strength in this area. We have a top performing product range that can meet the demands of any fleet and this is coupled with a holistic aftercare service all year round.”
