Michelin’s ONCall breakdown assistance service managed to rescue the Dungannon-based general and heavy haulage company Rice Continental following a tyre failure and slow puncture on one of their vehicles. The vehicle suffered this unexpected downtime part way through a mammoth 3,800-mile journey to Baku in Azerbaijan.

The truck that suffered the tyre failure was a part of a three-vehicle convoy that was transporting two rescue vessels and two davits from a ship that were being moved from Cork, and bound for a vessel in the Caspian Sea. While travelling through Eindhoven in the Netherlands, the driver carrying the davits reported a tyre failure on his SDC Euroliner trailer and a slow puncture on the drive axle of his Scania tractor unit. Both of these failed tyres were manufactured by competitors to Michelin.

The incident occurred in the early stages of the 18-day outward journey to Baku. Rice Continental contacted Michelin’s pan-European ONCall breakdown service for assistance at the roadside. The Owner of Rice Continental, Maurice Rice said that in cases like this, the company uses the internet to try and locate the nearest tyre dealer and call them. However, Maurice had recently heard about Michelin’s service and decided that they would try them out. The owner of the heavy haulage company was able to speak to a team from Michelin’s ONCall service in the UK and they took care of the assistance service, including the payment.

The Michelin ONCall breakdown service supplied a Euromaster technician quickly on the scene and he fitted a new trailer at the roadside and the took the drive tyre back to the workshop for repair. The whole job took less than two hours to complete and the price of the service was offered at the earliest stage of the call. The service offered by Michelin was efficient, fast and simple and the price of the work was very competitive.