The BT Optio L-series has been honoured with the iF product design award 2012.

New order picker wins award
Brussels, Belgium
Toyota Material Handling Europe (TMHE)'s BT Optio L-series has received the iF product design award 2012 given by International Forum Design in Hannover.
The L-series is a new range of low-level order picking trucks and was selected for the award from 2,923 entries. Evaluation criteria included design quality, finish, choice of materials, degree of innovation, environmental impact, safety, functionality and ergonomics.
The award has been given out for 58 years to honour outstanding achievement in design.

Hyster introduces tow tractor
Fleet, United Kingdom
Hyster Europe has introduced the LO5.0T electric tow tractor.
The tow tractor can pull 5 T and is ideal for manufacturing operations in the automotive and engineering industries where it can carry material to production lines.
It has a maximum travel speed of 7 km/h (4.4mph) with load and 12 km/h (7.5mph) without load.
Hyster claims the tow tractors offer "excellent energy efficiency and low cost of operation".

Fast-travelling new series
Mölnlycke, Sweden
Atlet says its new Balance EH 20-30 electric counterbalance trucks with a 21 km/h (13 mph.) maximum speed, is one of the fastest trucks on the market.
The 2-3 T trucks that come in four models have the "latest AC technology in motors, controllers and energy regeneration functions", and ergonomic features like fingertip control and steering synchroniser.

Bulmor's new compact
Wien, Austria
Bulmor Technik Gmbh, the manufacturer of the Lancer Brand, has launched the Qc 30-40 compact side loader.
The trucks, available in diesel and LPG models, feature Perkins engines.
They are also equipped with standard road lighting and can travel on streets.

Crown launches battery-charging system
New Bremen, OH, United States
Crown Equipment Corp has introduced its V-Force High-Frequency Modular (V-HFM) battery charger that it says provides 15% more efficiency than traditional chargers while fully charging batteries to 100% in eight hours or less.
Crown says other charging systems achieve 70-80% efficiency while its charger achieves 93% efficiency over the entire charging cycle.