Aisle-Masters are tough enough for the commodity centre

The Commodity Centre Group handles over 200,000 tonnes of mainly dried fruits and agricultural commodities a year from all over the world at its HQ in Essex, which are destined for major supermarkets and repackaging plants. 14 incoming containers are emptied and 500 pallets moved on a daily basis, and seven Aisle-Masters keep things on the move in this fast paced environment.

The fleet was acquired in 2012 and has been deployed for pretty much every task in and around 180,000 square feet of warehousing with 20,000 pallet spaces, each truck working at least 12 hours a day. Once pallets have been offloaded they take them from the ground to the racking, lift into place – the 9 metre lift height coping easily with 1 tonne pallets to the top beam of 7.5 metres – and pick again when needed to reload for despatch.

“Being on the go flat out during long shifts coupled with the uneven surfaces that we have in the yard makes this a very tough job,” said Director of Operations Dr. Andrew Sage. “The other two articulated brands we used in the past tired very quickly under these harsh conditions – in some instances showing noticeable signs of strain on the steering after just 18 months. The continued longevity of the Aisle-Masters after three years with only very minimal disruption is proving very impressive.”

The 20WHE electric powered models were recommended by Gary Millar of Armill Lift Trucks, the Commodity Centre’s materials handling suppliers. “The company wanted to stick with the articulated system to achieve optimum pallet density and faster loading times and the Aisle-Masters were the ideal solution due to their resilient operation. Driver preference also played its part – during a demo of different makes they preferred the Aisle-Master’s solid build, better visibility and smoother ride. From a dealer’s perspective the trucks have been very low maintenance in an application that is the most relentless I have seen in terms of potential wear and tear.”