A pair of brand-new forklift trucks, specially adapted to carry our huge constructional steel sections, has just been delivered to our Teesside site.
The Konecranes SMV33-1200 trucks, which are being supplied by Middlesbrough-based Advanced Material Handling Ltd, are being used to manoeuvre sections weighing up to 33 tonnes.
Lee Robson, Operations Manager – Prairies, Teesside, said: “They are fantastic machines and will prove a great asset to our business.
“They have been built to a British Steel specification for handling long steel products, the main reason being that our internal pallet trailers are wider than the standard external heavy haulage flatbed trailers. This means we need longer and stronger (reinforced) tines (forks), masts and carriages on the forklift.
“Our new trucks have come with tines that are 2.8 metres in length – 80 centimetres longer than standard, a reinforced 37-tonne mast and a carriage with extra supporting rollers and bearings.”
The trucks – which will replace 4 older ones – are fitted with heavy-duty air filters with exhaust extraction, along with heavy-duty high-level ad-blue filters and a hydraulic breather specially adapted for our site conditions and to reduce emissions.
Steve Ward, Director at Advanced Material Handling Ltd Advanced, said: “Securing this long-term contract with British Steel is fantastic for Advanced and the Konecranes brand. The customer’s own machines already on site have proven their reliability and power to get the job done in this tough environment and this again shows our customer’s belief in the brand and our company.”