Two new cold store MR reach trucks supported by two MPX power pallet trucks are proving to be a robust, reliable and low-cost materials handling solution in sub-zero temperatures at Chiltern Cold Storage.
Operating in temperatures down to -23°C, a fleet of just four lift trucks is all that is needed to keep the brisk pace of operations going at Chiltern Cold Storage’s 3,300 pallet position cold store in Bourne, Lincolnshire.
The Bourne operation, one of four sites the temperature controlled logistics specialist runs, was established three years ago and houses food products including fish and poultry destined for restaurants, pubs and other food outlets. With a turnover of some 1,500 pallets a week and all the usual challenges of such cold temperatures, it is vital the cold store has a flawless materials handling operation with the most robust equipment and the best backup in the business.
That requirement has been met with a fleet of two cold store MR14 reach trucks and two cold store MP20X power pallet trucks from Yale Europe Materials Handling, supplied by Chelveston, Northants dealer, JST Forklifts.
Working with pallets typically weighing 800kg and measuring up to 1.8 metres high, the two MR14s work in the Bourne site’s three metre wide aisles, predominantly on full pallet putaway and retrieval operations at heights of up to 6.2 metres.
The two MR reach trucks have a lift capacity of 1.4 tonnes – more than enough to accommodate the load weights and lift heights involved at the site – and work full twelve hour shifts (6am to 6pm), five days a week.
The two MPX power pallet trucks are both 2.0 tonne models, which are fitted with enclosed Chariot-style operator platforms and Scooter Control handlebars in place of more common tiller arm control, and are used to support the reach truck operation by carrying out vehicle loading and unloading via the site’s loading docks.
Build quality
Chiltern Cold Storage Contracts Director, John Davidson, opted for the Yale trucks after a visit to the manufacturer’s 35,000 square metre warehouse truck production facility at Masate, in Italy, where he says he was won over by the impressive build quality and testing processes in evidence. “The build quality was the thing for me. They’re very solidly built trucks,” he confirms. “There was also a very robust testing process in place at the factory, like the rumble strip test – it was really quite intense! I’ve gone to other manufacturers’ sites and not seen anything like that.”
Additional work
Because drivers only work in the cold store for periods of up to 50 minutes at a time, Chiltern Cold Storage did not need to specify the enclosed cabs normally fitted to the new cold store spec MR, which has made it practical for the reach trucks to be used for additional work as well as full pallet movements.
MPX appeal
The robust build quality of the Yale range was also the main reason behind Chiltern Cold Storage’s decision to opt for the MPX power pallet trucks, says Davidson.
“Again, it was the robust design and build – it’s just a quality product and a reliable workhorse,” he says. “The biggest issue you get on any power pallet truck is wearing the tyres out by moving constantly on and off loading docks. But they’ve been really good – in fact I’d go as far as to say the MP20 is the best power pallet truck we’ve got in terms of tyres at the moment.”
Service and support
It’s not just the trucks themselves that Chiltern Cold Storage had to be happy with, of course: in an environment as challenging as a cold store, it was also vital to secure the right initial package and the right backup service and support, says Davidson.
Yale dealer JST Forklifts has certainly come up trumps on this score, he says, supplying the fleet on a contract hire deal of just under five years to fit in with the remaining building lease, along with a full maintenance package; offering a guaranteed four-hour on-site response time in the event of any unforeseen call-outs; and also managing a highly impressive first-time-fix rate of over 95%.
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