Linde UK expands its short-term rental fleet.

Linde Material Handling (UK) Ltd (Linde UK) has added over 200 new forklifts to its 10,000-strong, short-term rental fleet to cope with growing demand from its customers.

Mark Sullivan, head of used and rental trucks, explains that the company is currently busy as various industries require rentals to meet their peak demands during the Christmas period.

"These new trucks have been ordered to keep up with the increasing customer demand and so as soon as we received delivery, the trucks were immediately distributed to our customers across the UK," Sullivan says.

He adds that Linde UK has seen accelerated growth since July. "We work with a number of retailers, from smaller independent stores right through to large supermarket chains, and we've experienced increased demand from right across the spectrum."

The new trucks include 112 internal combustion forklifts with load capacities from 1.6-2.5 T, 28 electric counterbalance trucks with load capacities from 1.4-2.5 T, 10 reach trucks and 60 pallet trucks. Linde UK also invested in "a small number" of specialist forklifts, including side loaders and stacker trucks.

Asked how Linde UK has been affected by the global recession, Sullivan says the company predicted the recession "as early as April 2008 and devised a revised business plan to adjust to the rapidly changing circumstances".

"We saw an opportunity for short-term rental units to help customer flexibility and, therefore, focussed on this offering and on our used truck range, which resulted in an increased demand for these trucks from 2009.

"Our marketshare was not affected during the tough economic downturn. Our commitment to offering customers flexibility through these uncertain times has resulted in growth throughout 2011."

Philippe Mulot, head of short-term rental and used trucks at Linde MH headquarters in Germany, tells Forkliftaction.com News that in general, rental fleets across Europe have declined since 2009 due to the global recession.

However, fleets are now slowly recovering, with customers "mixing more used trucks with new trucks than before".

He attributes Linde UK's excellent results to "a much higher utilisation ratio and better steering of the business, especially in maintenance".

Linde MH has over 25,000 trucks in its short-term rental fleet. It is currently investing in new and refurbished trucks in response to market demand.