Multi-direction

The Bristol Port Company has taken delivery of two Combilift 4-way forklifts after winning a new contract with a timber company for undercover storage

Due to the increased volume of timber handled following a new agreement with a Key North American timber company, the Bristol Port Company needed to improve storage density in existing sheds. After investigating a number of possibilities the Combilift trucks were deemed to be the best machines for optimising space and increasing operational flexibility.

The Combilifts work in a section of its recently expanded Forest Products Terminal which offers 100,000 m2 of warehousing adjacent to berths and have replaced counterbalance trucks which were previously being used.

"Since we started this contract we have had to adapt to a much larger workload," says development engineer Paul Osborne, "but to maintain the flexibility which our customers prize we did not want to install racking across the designated 10,000 m2 storage area. We therefore kept the block stacking system but needed to reduce aisle widths to create maximum storage space.

The Combilifts' 4-way ability enables them to work in narrow confines as well as to block stack and we can now accommodate a good 30% more packs than we could have achieved with counterbalance trucks." The diesel powered trucks have XL style driver cabs and air conditioning which ensure a high level of operator comfort. The 6t capacity enables two of even the heaviest packs of timber to be carried at once and to be lifted to stack on top of others, saving time on long runs.

Hydraulic fork positioners enable adjustment of the forks from within the cab to accord with the varying pack lengths. LED work lights are fitted as standard and Combilift supplied the trucks in Bristol Port's own colours.

Aisle widths are now 4m rather than the 7m needed for a counterbalance operation.

"We could have narrowed this down further," says Paul, "but the space allotted minimises the risk of product damage.

Travelling sideways with long loads resting on the platform offers much better visibility for drivers and is much safer than reversing a counterbalance truck." The decision to go with the Combilifts was taken after careful evaluation, and with an inventory of over 300 pieces of equipment under his control from 2t reach trucks to 45t reach stackers Paul is something of an expert at spotting the right kit for the task in hand.