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Ocado, the online grocer, announces that it is fitting its entire delivery van fleet with special winter tyres for the remainder of the winter period.

In many other European countries it is common practice for drivers to fit 'Winter Tyres' in late autumn and revert back to 'Summer Tyres' in the spring. Winter tyres provide substantially improved grip and stability in snow or ice conditions and also give higher levels of grip on cold and damp road surfaces. This also leads to shorter braking distances.

Winter tyres are particularly suitable for use at lower operating temperatures, such as those recently encountered in the UK. Below 7°C the rubber compound in summer tyres begins to harden and grip levels are reduced. Winter tyres retain their flexibility at low temperatures and key into the road surface providing better grip and safer driving.

Ocado was unable to source a sufficient number of winter tyres in the UK. Several thousand tyres have therefore been imported from Scandinavia and Switzerland in recent days.

Ocado believes that the use of winter tyres in periods of cold weather, including snow and ice conditions, will offer improved safety for its drivers and potentially other road users. It will also improve our ability to make deliveries safely to our customers in difficult weather conditions. Ocado has over 630 delivery vans and over 1550 drivers. Ocado regularly delivers over 15,000 orders a day.

Tim Steiner, Ocado CEO said:

“We have been very pleased with our ability to deal with the extremely heavy snowfall over the past few weeks. Having fitted winter tyres to our delivery vans we hope to be able to go places and do things others cannot. Our drivers have made heroic efforts to help those in need due to the snow and we are proud of the spirit displayed by our staff in keeping disruptions to a minimum and providing the best service possible in these tough conditions.

“Winter tyres are used in many other European countries at this time of year as they allow vehicles to travel in difficult winter conditions – rather than waiting for the roads to be gritted or the sun to come out we thought it better to be proactive for benefit of our staff and customers”

Andrew Bracey, Ocado CFO said:

“Thanks to the continued dedication of our staff, Ocado has kept weather related order cancellations to a minimum. Where orders have been cancelled we have been able toreschedule almost all deliveries. We believe the use of winter tyres for the remainder of the winter period will improve safety for our employees and reduce the disruption that snow and inclement weather can cause to our customers. These tyres are in common use in a number of other European countries in the winter period. There is clearly an incremental cost to us as a company, but we believe the benefits for our customers and staff will be significant. We are the only company in the UK that has fitted winter tyres to its entire delivery fleet.”

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Ocado the first to fit winter tyres to its entire van fleet in a bid to improve safety and customers deliveries