A manufacturing company in Queensland has switched to Powerlift Nissan to provide the company with a fleet of forty four forklift trucks. The company has the capacity of over 2 million square metres of plywood and decorative timber products annually and distribution centres throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Gary Wilkinson, Powerlift Nissan’s Queensland Sales Manager said the timber industry puts handling equipment to the test more than most other industries as it is used at or near its limit on a day to day basis.
“The timber industry is renowned for working their forklifts hard and generally look to get between 7,000 and 10,000 hours out of them at their distribution centres. While at the timber mills they would be lucky to get half of that due to the extremely harsh working environment.
“After discussions with several forklift companies it became clear to them that Powerlift Nissan was in a unique position to be able to supply and support a product that met all their needs in terms of technology, performance, design and features.
“Nissan’s 1F Series 3 tonne forklifts delivered pretty well exactly what they were looking for. The 1F’s electronic fuel injection engine management technology gave them the option of LPG or diesel, while our unique range of options enabled them to improve productivity and safety, plus they were competitively priced.
“Based on my recommendations the customer ordered five 1F Series 3 tonne Nissan forklifts, four LPG powered for use in Brisbane and one diesel powered for use at their facility in Melbourne. And since delivery it’s safe to say that everyone has been more than impressed with their performance.
Gary added that the drivers have found the Nissans to be user friendly and easy to operate, often commenting that they love the comfort and that they find them far less jarring on their bodies and a lot less tiring to operate.
“Another interesting aspect has been improved safety and operational availability. With the Nissans their auto shut-off function ensures that both the forklift and mast movement stops in the event of the driver leaving the seat, while the digital weight gauge has taken all the guesswork out of load weights.
“The clear roofing on the Nissans make them pretty well all-weather forklifts and after three straight months of rain in Brisbane earlier in the year this feature really minimised downtime, enabling them to maintain productivity.
Garry also commented that he would be the first to admit that the timber company work their forklifts hard, probably harder than most other industries, as they work flat out all day lifting loads that are pretty close to the 3 tonne limit. But the Nissan forklifts are built and supported to handle the job without a problem.