Tyre inflation specialist PCL is helping to keep Britain’s roads safe by supplying its efficient, user-friendly equipment to Hampshire Police.

PCL’s D10 digital wall-mounted unit is used to inflate tyres on the force’s fleet, which must be kept in peak condition at all times, with safety of paramount importance.

With 900 police vehicles covering some 15 million miles per year, Hampshire Police must source only the highest quality products to maintain its vehicles under guidelines outlined in the government’s Driving at Work document.

Produced by the Health & Safety Executive in conjunction with the Department of Transport, the document lays down the best practise relating to motor vehicles, which means that fleet managers must play close attention to every area of maintenance.

Hampshire Police Fleet Manager, John Bradley, said: “A key facet of good police fleet management encompasses issues around the vehicle, including passenger and public safety.

“Vehicles now fall within the Driving at Work document and the onus is on the fleet manager to adhere to its guidelines. This includes ensuring that fleet tyres are kept in first-class condition, therefore we must enhance ways in which officers as well as staff in police stations have the ability to accurately monitor and adjust vehicle tyre pressures.

“We looked at the market and thought that PCL’s D10 wall-mounted gauge was the best solution. It is self-calibrating, fail-safe, user-friendly and particularly simple in terms of conversion from imperial to metric, i.e. PSI to Bar. Overall we are very satisfied with its performance.”

The D10 unit is amongst PCL’s innovative range of “menu-driven” driven products and encloses digital technology in a modern, die cast aluminium housing, offering repeatable accuracy. Highly accurate, it offers reduced maintenance and lifecycle costs, increased fuel economy and increased safety. The attraction of the product is also its simplicity of use with the easy setting, the auto start, and the default to safe setting makes it extremely easy to maximise the benefits of the unit.

Simon Shorter, General Manager of PCL’s UK-based Tyre Gauge Division, said: “We continually carry out in-depth research and development to design and manufacture the world’s best tyre inflation equipment for maximum safety and fast, accurate and reliable tyre inflation. This allows us to produce products such as the D10 which provides superior vehicle performance through increased fuel economy, longer tyre life and greater safety and comfort. The training provided by PCL to the Hampshire Police engineers will also enable them to maintain safety at the new higher levels while also making operational savings.

“In the case of Hampshire Police it is the safety issue which was the key factor in the selection of our equipment and it is rewarding to receive such a positive testimonial to our product’s performance.”