Tyres remain truck-pain-cause number 1 27.10.06 – Problems with the tires, but also with motor and electrics are the biggest threats to freight traffic on the road. Around two thirds of all truck-pains are on account of these three components. This is the result of the current breakdown statistics of the ADAC TruckService, which evaluated 19 500 breakdowns over 18 months throughout Europe. Truck-pain-cause number one are still tire damage (27.1 percent), closely followed by M otorpannen (25.6 percent) and problems with electrics (16.9 percent). While the share of tyre and motor chips almost confirms the result of the previous half-year, there was a significant decline in electric chips. In the second half of 2005, electrical problems had caused 20.7 percent of the operations of mechanics. “The reason for this decline is likely to be in addition to the weather effects in the increased quality efforts of vehicle manufacturers. ADAC TruckService’s managing director, Werner Renz, balances out. The breakdowns in Germany are once again concentrated on the busy routes of the land countries, the agglomerations and near the border. “The breakdown rates are also particularly high, where there is a great deal of driving,” explains Renz. Most of the emergency calls came from Bavaria (19.7%), followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (17.1%) and Lower Saxony (14.2%). The first half of 2006 also evaluates the breakdown calls of its customers from other European countries. Here, with France (28.8 percent), Austria (13.7 percent) and Great Britain (nine percent) clearly outweigh the deployments of the Western European network partners, which the ADAC TruckService sends from its service center into the field. A protection letter from the ADAC exempts transporters for 165 euros (Germany-wide) or 225 euros (full access to 40 000 service workshops in Eu ropa) for one year from all travel, work and handling costs in case of breakdowns. Material costs are calculated according to expenditure. The protection letter can be obtained from each transporter, a membership is not required. Interested parties are advised by the ADAC TruckService on the phone number 0180 5 24 15 00.