LOUISVILLE (April 1, 2011) — Michelin Americas Truck Tires (MATT) is opening its four-year-old Advantage Program — which offers trucking professionals with consistent program pricing, emergency road service (ERS), safety and maintenance training, etc. — to owner-operators in the U.S.
“We've seen the popularity of the Michelin Advantage Program increase significantly as more and more people are realizing that you don't have to be a big fleet to get an advantage or have a relationship with Michelin,” said Fritz Mueller, small fleet business segment manager MATT, during the recent Mid-American Trucking Show, where the program expansion was announced.
Owner-operators were not eligible for the program when it was launched four year ago, althought they could apply for the Michelin Advantage-branded Visa Card, the company said.
Members can access the Michelin Commercial Service Network, a recently established program involving Michelin commercial tire dealers and Michelin Retread Technologies (MRT) retreaders that provide trained technicians, professional equipment and casing management governed by rigorous certification and audit standards.
Among the benefits offered by the Advantage Program are:
c Competitive pricing on Michelin tires, MRT retreads and services, including 43-percent discount on new tires; 28-percent discounts on MRT retreads; and 20 percent off tire/retread repairs.
c Access to Michelin ONCall emergency road service program and have the dspatch fee waived when a tire is purchased in connection with the service call ($25.00 value)
c Customers can pay for purchases with any Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit card, but the Michelin Advantage Visa Card offers additional rebates on tire, retread, services or fuel purchases, Michelin said.
The Advantage Program also supplies members with access to resources on the Advantage Program website, including training information and maintenance tips and techniques.
Starting this year Michelin has added quarterly webcasts on important tire topics, such as CSA 2010, tire casing analysis, etc. to regular e-newsletter updates on news, product updates and promotions. Members can view and download the webcast topis to help them maintain safe truck operations, Michelin said.
Michelin did not say how many customers participate in the Advantage Program or how many independent owner-operators there are who would be eligible, but it did say the number who signed up in January was double the number from a year earlier.