Fleets want certified tyre services

Certification of Tyre Services ensures quality and safety

There are nearly 12 000 tyre services in Poland with a very different level of the quality of service and technical culture. When we entrust given car workshop with tyre change in our fleet, we also entrust the safety of our employees and customers. When driving on a highway, the popular sizes of tyres spin more than 1000 times a minute and are the only element of a car that has contact with the road. There is no margin for mistakes and lack of professionalism here. When changing tyres, one can make a number of serious mistakes – however, we as customers will not notice it, because we do not have access to the hall. That is why the Polish Tyre Industry Association introduced a Certificate of Tyre Services based on an audit of the quality of services, equipment and customer service, carried out by TÜV SÜD.

How many of us know the tyre replacement procedures and could objectively evaluate the service for which we are paying? Errors made by car workshops can generate huge costs for fleet managers and owners. Damaged and swapped tyres, scratched rims, fleet drivers returning with complaints – that’s the reality of fleet managers’ daily routine. There is no room for errors and omissions – when driving at highway speed, tyres rotate more than 1000 times per minute. Tyre service has a huge impact on the safety of drivers’ work – till now fleet managers have had very limited opportunities to realistically assess who they entrust the cars to.

– Unfortunately, the level of service and technical culture of tyre services is very diverse, and there is no uniform training system. Too many car workshops replace tyres in an absolutely unacceptable way, often by force. We have been observing this market for many years – we have noticed that most of the awards of tyre services, often called “certificates”, are not at all a sign of a professional audit, for which the workshop had to prepare and undergo demanding training. Therefore, as the Polish Tyre Industry Association, we are introducing a system for assessing and awarding professional services based on an independent audit of equipment and qualifications conducted by TÜV SÜD. The Audit for Certification of Tyre services – as the only one in Poland – checks the actual skills of service technicians and the quality of services offered by the car workshop and is not based on declarations of service owners. It is not worth risking the safety of your employees by entrusting tyre replacement to a random car workshop – said Piotr Sarnecki, general director of the Polish Tyre Industry Association (PTIA).

A map of certified services that have undergone TÜV SÜD’s audit and received PTIA’s Certificate can be found on certyfikatoponiarski.pl.

The certification criteria are transparent and can be a great tool for fleet managers to check real skills of the services they have entrusted their cars to so far. The procedures on which the Certificate of Tyre Services is based should be widely known and followed in any professional tyre service.

Fleet owners and individual customers can be sure that in workshops with the PTIA’s Certificate, the tyres in their cars will be taken care of by specialists with proven skills and good equipment.

– We help car workshops to improve quality and we increase their competitiveness. We do not leave the services alone – we conduct completely free training courses preparing for certification audit, because we believe that the time devoted to the development of service technicians and their skills always pays off in the form of loyal and safe customers, which translates into higher profits. PTIA and TÜV SÜD ensure independence in the assessment and awarding of the Certificate, as well as professional audit, in which we check the real quality of the service and not mearly ask questions about it – adds Piotr Sarnecki.

Certified car workshops will take care of your tyres!

  • they will not damage the tyre (bead, tread grooves and inner layers) or rims,
  • correctly clean the rim, tighten wheel lug nuts without torque wrench with the right force,
  • replace the valve stems in the wheel and ensure the correct tyre pressure,
  • use professional and serviced tools and equipment,
  • when necessary, will know how to fix a flat tyre in a safe way.

Search for certified tyre services! Only they:

  • met even up to 140 audit criteria,
  • have professional and serviced equipment,
  • have trained staff,
  • offer high quality tyre services.

A map of certified services, as well as the criteria and tyre procedures are available on the website certyfikatoponiarski.pl/en/

PTIA and TÜV SÜD’s is the only determinant of high-quality tyre services.

Certification is preceded by a technical audit during which the following are tested:

  • technical equipment,
  • skills of service technicians,
  • health and safety conditions for employees,
  • level of customer service and basic amenities (parking, bathroom, waiting room).

A map of certified services that have undergone TÜV SÜD’s audit and received PTIA’s Certificate can be found on certyfikatoponiarski.pl.

Due to the great diversity of the quality of service in car workshops in Poland, the Certification of Tyre Services distinguishes 3 levels of service:

  • GOOD SERVICE – basic services are performed at a high level, has basic and serviced equipment suitable for most vehicles, has basic facilities for customers;
  • VERY GOOD SERVICE – met the criteria for the GOOD level plus has more advanced equipment, higher accuracy of service, better skilled staff, better conditions in the customer zone;
  • EXCELLENT – met the criteria for the GOOD and VERY GOOD levels plus: has the most advanced equipment, highly competent staff, offers additional tyre services, has the highest standard of customer service and verification by a mystery client.

This post is also available in: plpolski (Polish)