ROCKCOTE, a Queensland-based manufacturer of renders, textured coatings, paints and building systems, now uses Linde reach trucks and 1.8t and 2.5t gas forklifts in all of its facilities across Australia.
According to Rockcote’s site services manager, Lyall Apelt, the company paid more initially for the forklifts, but their fleet has experienced no downtime.
“We paid more for the Lindes upfront, but how do you put a value on never having a forklift out of action. Because we only run one or two forklifts at each site, the impact when a forklift breaks down is huge,” he said.
“The other aspect that makes the premium paid insignificant is the running costs savings with the Lindes. They use a lot less fuel than previous brands we’ve owned and the hydrostatic transmission on the gas forklifts means we don’t have to worry about the expensive and maintenance-dependent parts such as, the mechanical clutch, gearbox and conventional brake.”
Rockcote uses the gas forklifts for loading sands into the mixers in addition to general materials handling and loading/unloading trucks. The reach trucks handle all warehousing retrieval and put-away of pallets.
The reach trucks are fitted with the high frequency Linde Digital Control system (LDC) for traction and load handling. This system is said to react progressively to operator demand and provide smooth movements. It also incorporates regenerative electric braking on release of the accelerator, while steering is controlled by ‘fly by wire’ technology.
Parameter adjustments are said to allow the truck to be tailored to suit a particular requirement or operator skill level.
Integrated diagnostics, via a CAN bus connection, are said to enable rapid servicing and maximum uptime.
Linde Materials Handling1300 135 463.