The fleet software provider said the issue is not just being forced by the increase in bigger, and more expensive, wheels and tyres being used on vehicles but also the fact that they are seemingly more susceptible to accidental damage and even more likely to be stolen.

Ashley Sowerby, managing director, said: “All of these factors lead to higher costs and fleets are increasingly trying to take managerial control in this area.

“This is something that is being seen on a wider industry basis with some of the largest fleets changing their buying arrangements and we see reflections of this in increased levels of price comparison using our software, for example.

“However, there is also a strong desire among fleets to take a greater amount of operational control over tyre costs.”

Sowerby added that Chevin offered a tyre management module as part of its FleetWave software and that this was increasingly being used to monitor tyre use.

“Successfully tackling costs in this area requires something of a change of culture, recognising that tyres are an area that respond to management attention. This is why, in our software, each tyre is recorded as a separate, specific asset.

“Managing this asset might mean actions as simple as looking at examining the different tyre replacement cycles that occur for different drivers in similar vehicles, seeing which are getting through sets of tyres more often and why?

“It might also mean identifying which drivers most often suffer accidental tyre damage and again trying to work out whether this is a result of their driving style or other factors that can be tackled.”