CK Food Stores, the largest independent food retailer in South West Wales, has upgraded the materials handling equipment at its Llanelli warehouse and distribution centre with the acquisition of a fleet of refurbished Toyota powered pallet trucks.

CK Food Stores opted to invest in refurbished equipment after carrying out an extensive review of its intralogistics processes and materials handling needs earlier this year, ahead of the approaching summer peak.

Pricing was a key consideration, with used trucks generally selling for around two-thirds of the price of new equipment, but the fact that the trucks were available for immediate delivery was also an important factor.

CK Food Stores operations manager Alun Littlejohns says: “With one of our busiest periods of the year approaching, we needed to have a reliable truck fleet in place that would minimise unplanned downtime and allow us to meet our logistics challenges at this particularly hectic time.”

Toyota Material Handling UK rental and used equipment director Stuart Reilly notes that, for many companies, used forklifts represent an attractive and economical alternative to new equipment. “And, because Toyota refurbishes trucks to such a high standard, our used trucks give many years of efficient and productive service.”

Toyota supplied a total of 10 used LWE 180 powered pallet trucks to CK Food Stores to replace the company’s existing mixed fleet of pallet trucks and order pickers. The equipment will be covered by Toyota’s full service and maintenance support to minimise the fleet’s running costs and ensure optimum truck uptime at the Llanelli site, where some 6,000 picks are undertaken each day to keep the shelves of the CK Food Service's 28 retail outlets stocked.