Linde marks its 111,111st 386 series truck

Linde is claiming its 386 series electric forklift is the "most manufactured forklift of its kind", with the 111,111th truck recently leaving the assembly line.

When the first E12-20 electric forklifts of the 386 series were launched in 2006, demand for the truck was "enormous", according to Linde.

At the time, Linde was known for its combustion engine equipment. "Our customers clearly asked for an ‘E’ product from Linde, which has a similar performance to a ‘V’ product, but that is free of emissions," says developer Wolfgang Hock, who significantly drove forward the start of production at that time. "The fact that the truck has been producing a steep sales curve for eleven years proves that our concept has been and is just right."

The milestone in Aschaffenburg was not only celebrated by the employees on the assembly line. Employees who had been involved in the first models, including Alexander Herberich, who supervised the start of production as a responsible foreman, were also on hand.

"First of all, we had to familiarise ourselves with this completely new truck type. The hand grips were completely different from the other product lines. Today, however, we are on first-name terms with every screw," says Herberich.

Andreas Krinninger, chairman of the management board of Linde Material Handling, notes: "At Linde, we are rapidly developing into a solutions provider for goods handling. However, this does not alter the central importance of the forklift for our business. We continue to put our entire expertise and our full passion into this. I am proud that Linde manufactures the world's most successful electric forklift truck series. We will do everything to keep it that way in the future!"