Upgraded forklift fleet already worth its weight to Palletline

A novel way of integrating weighing scales into Linde Material Handling forklift trucks has brought health and safety benefits and greater efficiencies to Palletline’s Birmingham and London sites.

The contract for 78 upgraded forklifts, ten of which are electric, is saving Palletline more than £100,000 over five years, including a 25% cut in gas (LPG) consumption. Meanwhile they are reducing the palletised freight distribution network’s carbon emissions by 27kg a day.

Weighing capability was a key requirement for Palletline’s new fleet. The company had previously relied upon a bolt-on arrangement for weighing scales, and had needed larger capacity trucks to handle the extra weight.

Linde MH partnered with specialists from B&B Attachments to devise an integrated weighing solution which allows Palletline to operate a smaller, more fuel-efficient truck.

Importantly, an automated alarm prevents drivers from lifting a pallet weighing more than 400kg above a height of 1.2m. This aligns the company’s operations with the latest double-deck trailer loading guidelines from the DVSA, HSE and other regulatory bodies.

The upgraded fleet of forklifts are also fitted with Linde MH’s fleet management system which ensures that only fully trained staff are authorised to operate them.

Rob Carney, Facilities Manager of Palletline, said: “The trucks are brilliantly robust yet incredibly agile when compared to the previous trucks we had on site, perfect for our network freight environment. Our drivers love the electric trucks too, which provide additional flexibility across our fleet and impressive range.”

The company plans further collaboration with the Linde team on the future of Palletline’s forklift truck fleet.

Graham Leitch, Group Managing Director, added: “We are currently working with Linde to investigate the use of hydrogen fuel cells in forklifts to further reduce the environmental impact of our operation while at the same time reducing fuel costs.

“Hydrogen is expected to be a significant opportunity for this partnership and we are hoping to be one of the first to introduce a hydrogen-fuelled fleet of forklifts in the industry, further reinforcing our market-leading position.”