Every night, Team Livestock transport around 80,000 live chickens from farm to factory to satisfy the public appetite for chicken dishes. “Our forklifts run in and out of the chicken sheds taking empty crates in, and running loaded crates up and onto semi-trailers,” Transport Manager, Darren Walker, says.
The work requires a heavy duty forklift that can cope with all terrain – bumpy, dry and dusty, wet and slippery. The cages are 2.4m long and the extreme centre of gravity of the load puts a massive of stress on any forklift, particularly in rough terrain. So when Darren Walker and business owner, Mark Waddell, wanted to purchase a new articulated forklift, they thought of Schaffer Loaders’ solid German build and customisation potential.
“Schaffer was also able to customise our articulated forklift at the factory by fitting a forklift mast to our specifications, with a Schaffer warranty that covered the whole machine.” Darren was impressed with the dedicated service of the Schaffer team.
“From our first contact with the Managing Director, Cameron Moir, he stated that Schaffer would have no problem in customising the articulated forklift at the factory for whatever configuration we needed. He came to our workplace many times, with tape measure in hand, to measure and re-measure the masts we were already using on our older machines.”
Schaffer Loaders’ German-based Sales Manager, Ralf Bartholome, also paid Team Livestock a visit while in Australia so he could see firsthand exactly what was required when customising the all terrain articulated forklift.
Darren Walker says that the Schaffer Loaders’ articulated forklift is the preferred machine of Team Livestock’s drivers and, based on its performance, the company has already purchased two more Schaffer 5058 all terrain forklifts.