Bloodhound allows sponsors to hire a full-size show car - a 13.5 m long supersonic vehicle.

Linde Forklift Truck Hire is supplying forklifts for Bloodhound SSC, a project that aims to push the boundaries of science and technology by setting a new world land speed record at 1,000 mph. (1,609 km/h).

Developed over the last three years, the Bloodhound SSC car, powered by a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and a hybrid rocket, will be capable of accelerating from zero to 1,000 mph. (1,609 km/h) and back in 120 seconds, covering 12 mi.19 km).

To promote the project, Bloodhound allows sponsors to hire a full-size show car - a 13.5 m (44.2 ft.) long, 3 m (9.8 ft.) tall supersonic vehicle. It is transported in a 14 m (46 ft.) curtain-sided articulated truck, and requires a forklift to unload it from the side.


The first event Linde Forklift Truck Hire handled was outside the Scottish Parliament. A Linde forklift operator used a H50 Linde engine counterbalanced truck, with 5 T. capacity, to unload and manoeuvre the car into position.

Bloodhound's Tony Parraman says being able to rely on the forklift to "always be there to unload the car wherever we may be", takes a huge strain off the team.

"Not only have they undertaken to unload the show car at all our events, they are supplying a forklift for the Bloodhound Technical Centre where the car is being assembled. We also have access to one of their powered pallet trucks, which we will use to move parts of the car around the workshop," Parraman says.

Linde Forklift Truck Hire has added 200 trucks to its 10,000-strong rental fleet to cope with increasing customer demand in the heavy truck market.

Lorraine Gray, rental controller from Linde Material Handling, says finding a suitable forklift for Bloodhound was simple because the company has an extensive range of hire trucks. "This, combined with the help of our skilled drivers, ensured the show car was in safe hands."

In Wales, more than 60 employees are expected to lose their jobs at Linde Heavy Truck Division Ltd (LHTD). Head of marketing Colin Flint tells Forkliftaction.com News the company has been evaluating the current company structure since January to cut costs, improve business processes and "bring a clearly defined focus to both the forklift and container handling segments".

"During this same period we have seen our market soften and witnessed a significant weakening of the euro against [the] sterling. As a result we have to announce that up to 65 redundancies are proposed at the Merthyr Tydfil site [in South Wales].

"We will seek to redeploy affected staff in the business where possible; seek alternatives to redundancy; and provide help and assistance with job search activities," Flint says.

Last year, the division won the "advanced manufacturer" category at the inaugural Made in Wales Awards against stiff competition that included GE Aviation Wales, Recycle Direct and Qioptiq. LHTD was praised for its advanced technology and manufacturing processes (Forkliftaction.com News #545).