Mobile Tyre and Brake Fitting Van for Commercial Fleets
A fully equipped service van that fits tyres and brakes overnight at the fleet's own depot, so their vehicles never lose a shift to a garage visit.
The problem
When a fleet van needs tyres, someone drives it to a garage, waits, and drives it back. That is half a day of lost productive capacity per vehicle, and for a 40 van fleet doing this a few times a year, it is a serious hidden cost. Fleets also get gouged on emergency roadside tyre callouts because they have no planned programme. Existing mobile tyre firms mostly chase retail consumers, not depot based fleet contracts.
Why now
Fleet operators are under margin pressure and increasingly measure vehicle uptime as a KPI, which makes overnight depot servicing an easy sell. Last mile delivery has grown the number of van fleets that run 6 or 7 days and cannot spare a vehicle during the day. Mobile tyre fitting equipment has come down in cost and improved, and telematics gives fleets tyre wear and mileage data that makes proactive replacement schedulable rather than reactive.
Who pays
Fleet and depot managers running 20 to 150 light commercial vehicles: courier subcontractors, trades and facilities firms, food distribution, utility contractors, and rental or leasing companies, in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada.
How it makes money
Fit fee plus tyre margin, typical $30 to $60 labour per wheel on top of tyre cost, with fleet contract pricing. Brake pad and disc work at $150 to $400 per axle. Monthly retainer options for scheduled depot nights. Real money is in a contracted fleet doing predictable volume every week, not in one off jobs.
Market & demand
Order of magnitude: commercial vehicle tyre replacement is a multi billion dollar category across these markets. A single van servicing 12 to 20 wheels a night at healthy margin can support a strong owner operator income, and each additional van roughly multiplies it. Realistic ceiling for a small operator is a fleet of 3 to 8 service vans in one region.
Consumer mobile tyre fitting has consolidated and struggled on unit economics because retail jobs are scattered and single vehicle. The fleet depot model inverts this: one location, many vehicles, predictable schedule, far better utilisation per hour. Fleets are also increasingly buying uptime rather than parts, which favours a contracted, scheduled service over ad hoc callouts.
Verify before you commit:
- Tyre industry association replacement volume data (Tyre Industry Federation UK, USTMA in the US)
- Light commercial vehicle parc statistics (DVLA, US BTS, ABS)
- Pricing from mobile tyre operators: Blackcircles mobile, Tyres on the Drive, Tyreplus mobile
- Fleet uptime cost estimates published by telematics vendors
SWOT
Strengths
- Depot batching gives far better technician utilisation than consumer mobile work
- Contracted fleets create predictable, recurring volume
- Uptime pitch is easy to quantify for a fleet manager
Weaknesses
- Heavy upfront capital in van, fitting equipment, and initial tyre stock
- Revenue is capped by technician hours; growth means hiring and more vans
- Working capital tied up in tyre inventory
Opportunities
- Expand the depot night into a wider service: brakes, servicing, safety inspections, EV specific checks
- Add tyre management reporting using fleet telematics data
- Serve EV fleets, which chew tyres faster due to weight and torque, so replacement frequency is higher
Threats
- National tyre chains launching fleet mobile divisions with better buying power
- Tyre supply cost volatility squeezing margin
- A serious workplace safety incident at a client depot
Competition & the gap
National chains with mobile arms (Kwik Fit Mobile, ATS Euromaster, Discount Tire fleet), independent mobile fitters, and consumer focused players like Blackcircles or Tyres on the Drive.
The wedge: Independent operators chase consumers. The chains treat fleets as an afterthought and price rigidly. A dedicated, scheduled, overnight depot service for 20 to 150 vehicle fleets, with proactive tyre wear tracking, is genuinely underserved in most regions.
Go-to-market
Sell uptime, not tyres. Walk into depots with a simple calculation of what a half day off road costs them per vehicle, and offer a free overnight tread and brake audit of their whole fleet. Convert the audit into a scheduled monthly depot night contract.
First 10 customers: Identify the 30 largest van depots within a 30 mile radius using commercial property and telematics reseller contacts. Offer three of them a free full fleet tyre audit. Present the findings alongside a contract quote. One signed depot funds the second van.
How to set it up
- 1Get the required fitting certifications and commercial insurance, including working on client premises
- 2Buy and fit out the service van: mobile tyre changer, balancer, compressor, torque tools, lighting, waste tyre handling
- 3Establish a tyre supply account with a wholesaler for fleet pricing
- 4Sign the first depot contract before buying stock beyond a starter range
- 5Build a simple scheduling and per vehicle tyre history system
- 6Prove utilisation on one van for six months, then add a second van and technician
How to validate it
Depot contracts renewing, wheels fitted per night rising toward capacity, fleets moving from ad hoc callouts to scheduled nights, referrals between depot managers, and second vans reaching utilisation within three months.
Key risks
- Capital intensity is real: a properly equipped van plus insurance plus starting stock is a substantial commitment before the first contract
- Working on client premises requires serious health and safety compliance and specific liability insurance; get this right before the first job
- Technician recruitment is genuinely hard in every one of these markets and will cap growth
- Tyre cost volatility can wipe out margin on fixed price contracts, so index contracts to supply cost
Your moats
- Contracted depot relationships that are painful for a fleet to switch away from
- Per vehicle tyre history data that lets you predict and pre schedule replacement
- Route and scheduling density in one region, which competitors cannot match without local scale
Tools & inspiration
Companies in this space: Kwik Fit Mobile, ATS Euromaster, Discount Tire fleet services, Blackcircles, Tyres on the Drive
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