This negative situation is compounded by the fact that the European Union imposes strict regulations on tyres used in the Community, all of which have to meet CE standards.“We can no longer source tyres from China, for example, because these might result in us being embroiled in legal issues with the EU.

Furthermore, in the case of an accident, we would be open to prosecution if the tyres did not meet CE standards.”

According to Mr Jol, SCT faces annual price hikes for tyres in the region of 10. However, he stresses that, while this is a problem, the major headache is actually getting hold of sufficient tyres.If a reachstacker has a puncture in one of its rear tyres, all four tyres will have to be replaced in order to maintain the overall stability of the machine.Nevertheless, to be able to do this, sufficient tyres have to be available and that is increasingly not the case.

While suppliers are advising operators to keep a reasonable store of tyres to ensure that short-term shortages do not cause problems, Mr Jol stresses that small companies like SCT simply don’t have the financial reserves to buy 25-30 tyres at one time; a common complaint.

“We hope that manufacturers are looking at alternative materials in order to overcome these shortages and keep tyres prices down. But there don’t seem to be any major innovations on the immediate horizon,”says Mr Jol.

Asked if there is anything that SCT can do in order to keep tyres in front line service longer,Mr Jol is dubious that,with existing technology,this is a possibility. Indeed, most reachstacker tyres are only kept in service for more or less two years, since this equates with 6,000 hours of operation, the current average limit.