Mitsubishi GRENDiA trucks outperformed rivals during trials at Essex.

Mitsubishi Forklift Truck has beaten 10 forklift manufacturers, through local dealer Bronze Mechanical Handling, to win a forklift tender for UK independent freight firm Simarco.

A Mitsubishi Forklift Truck spokesperson tells Forkliftaction.com News that at trials at Simarco's site in Essex, Witham, the Mitsubishi GRENDiA trucks outperformed rivals on a number of fronts.

The GRENDiA speed limiter stood out to Simarco as a great aid to improving efficiency, while the three-way catalytic converter - fitted as standard - also helped to boost its green credentials by reducing harmful nitrogen oxide emissions.

The deal, the value of which is confidential, sees eight GRENDiA trucks with 2-3 T capacities replace Simarco's outgoing fleet of mixed brands from different suppliers.

Simarco managing director Trevor Scott says: "We're getting busier month by month and we were looking for forklifts that could support our growth while limiting the ecological consequences, which our work might have.

"The fact that our new machines are even more fuel efficient than those which we had run previously was certainly a factor and, as our business continues both at Witham and our facility in Staffordshire, the potential for further such revisions to our forklift fleet there grows too."

The new forklifts are expected to offer up to 40% better fuel economy than Simarco's previous trucks.

The Essex firm's forklift fleet can be used intensively, with 50-hour weeks for the trucks not uncommon. The company held an exhaustive tendering process and says the LPG-powered GRENDiA outperformed other trucks during the on-site trials.

Through the trials, Simarco found that the GRENDiA could run on a single bottle of LP gas for 13 hours, twice as long as its previous trucks and longer than other trucks trialed.

Service and support from Bronze Mechanical Handling were also key factors for the busy Witham depot, with a Bronze engineer visiting the depot every few days to check on the trucks.

Bronze sales director Chris Slater says: "We're a passionate, local company, just half an hour down the road. So we can be very proactive about preventing breakdowns, and respond quickly to any requests."

Bronze Mechanical Handling, headquartered in West Thurrock, Essex was established in 1978. The Mitsubishi dealer of the year's annual turnover is nearly GBP5 million (USD7.4 million). It supplies the entire Mitsubishi forklift range.