Castle Forklifts Ltd has prepared five Maximal forklifts in under 48 hours for Haiti relief work.

Castle Forklifts Ltd of Rugby, UK has modified five new Maximal forklifts in 48 hours for relief work in Haiti.

After the earthquake, demand for forklifts to help distribute food, medicine and clothes became critical.

Castle Forklifts chairman Keith Edkins tells Forkliftaction.com News that preparing the five Maximal forklifts for local conditions in Haiti is normally a 10-day job, but the company worked around the clock over two days to fulfil the UK government order.

"We are used to responding quickly to our customers' needs, but this was one of the most intense jobs I can remember in over 35 years," Edkins says, adding that he is "extremely proud" of his staff for making the mammoth task possible.

It usually takes two days for Castle's two preparation engineers to modify, prepare and test a single new forklift suitable for use in conditions such as Haiti's. So getting five forklifts ready would generally require 10 days.

To meet the two-day deadline, Castle Forklifts called in three outside service engineers to assist the two staff engineers on the task.

Edkins says Castle Forklifts has supplied handling equipment to various UK government departments for over 25 years. In mid-2008, it sold a new Maximal diesel forklift to the UK government's relief agency for use in loading freight containers with emergency aid headed for disaster areas globally.

"They have been delighted with the forklift ... so when [they needed] five new forklifts for Haiti, they contacted Castle to check the immediate availability of further Maximals," he says.

Castle Forklifts had the Maximals in stock and the order was placed with the proviso that they be delivered in 48 hours or they would be penalised.

"If the trucks arrived late, they would miss the ship, the order would be cancelled and Castle wouldn't be paid," Edkins says.

Castle Forklifts did not have to worry about the penalty clause as they delivered the order with two hours to spare.

The petrol forklifts were converted to run on LPG. Then the converted vehicles and other diesel forklifts were fitted with low-profile triplex full free-lift masts, sideshifts, puncture-proof tyres, heavy-duty air filters and extra-long forks.

Castle Forklifts was established in 1975 and has imported forklifts from the Far East since 1982. Initially, the forklifts came from Japan but for the past two years, Castle has imported exclusively from Maximal Forklift in China.

Separately, Still GmbH of Hamburg, Germany, is donating an RX20-20 electric forklift to the Federal Technical Aid Organisation of Germany (THW)'s central warehouse for international operations. The battery for the forklift was donated by Geraer-Batterie-Diesnt GmbH of Gera, Germany.

THW transports drinking water treatment plants and other humanitarian aid material to Haiti and other disaster areas from the warehouse.