Avonmouth Shipping has addeda specially modified Cat DP45 diesel-powered forklift.

Avonmouth Shipping has called on Impact, the UK's sole supplier of Cat lift trucks, to expand its materials handling capabilities, adding a specially modified Cat DP45 diesel-powered forklift to its hard-working fleet.

The modified DP45 features a lowered chassis, seat and masts to assist the truck in its primary duties - unloading containers at the Port of Bristol.

The new arrival is the third Impact-supplied Cat truck to join the company, following a pair of DP45s delivered in 2014 and 2015.

John Cox, director at Avonmouth Shipping, says: "Impact has taken the time to understand the demands of life in the port, and helped us specify a tough truck to match.

"When a container ship docks, it can't be allowed to stay there long - it needs unloading fast, so the three lining up behind it can have their turn. As such, we need forklifts that can reliably be ready to go as soon as the captain calls 'stop engines' - and Impact supplied just that."

The DP45 will be in operation six days per week at the Port of Bristol, helping unload 100 to 200 containers as part of Avonmouth Shipping's dockside fleet, or moving cargo around the company's nearby warehouses.

Founded in 1983 as a family-run dockside enterprise, Avonmouth Shipping has since expanded into warehousing, storage, dockside labour and stevedoring. The company is also involved in the construction industry.