Two Bridgestone trainers, Phil Thirsk and Paul Turner, have passed the tests to become qualified assessors for aspiring fleet technicians.
The licence features three practical assessments and an online test, and it is hoped that it will regulate the industry by developing best practice and offering an approved standard.
Tyre technicians will have to show they can: remove and refit a wheel to a commercial vehicle in accordance with the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations; demount and mount a tubeless truck tyre to a wheel; and repair a tyre to British Standards and regroove a truck tyre to the manufacturer’s specific recommendations.
This is followed by a online test and, if they pass, the technician holds the licence for five years.
Bridgestone’s Thirsk and Turner assessed their first two applicants at TyreForce in Manchester this month.
TyreForce group training manager Helen Allera says: “This licence creates traceability, accountability and from our point of view, a blue riband standard that we can use when pitching for work and communicating with our customers. It can help us secure new business, such is the level we regard it.”