Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) has delivered a range of tailored forklifts and materials handling solutions to The Drake Group, an Australian-owned trailer manufacturer based in Queensland.

Drake Group purchased six TMHA LHE150 electric pallet jacks, two TMHA Leonardo elevated work platforms, three Toyota 8FG25 counterbalance forklifts and a Huski 5SDK5 skid-steer loader, for use at its Wacol manufacturing facility.

Drake Group maintenance supervisor Buchanan Pinder explains the company was looking to upgrade its fleet of materials handling equipment and reached out to several manufacturers. 

“Price-wise Toyota was really competitive,” Pinter explains of the decision to choose Toyota. “Also the reliability, [and] the after-sales service.”

Drake Group had been fitting an attachment onto a forklift to “scrape up the sand and debris from the floor of the blast booth, however the harsh usage would eventually break the forklifts, leading to additional downtime and maintenance costs”.

TMHA major account manager, Chevy Date, explains using a Huski skid steer provides a more tailored solution for the business while also doing a better job of cleaning up the blast booth.

Pinder adds the two Leonardo EWPs has made the fabrication process both easier and safer.

“When we build our trailers, we turn them 360 degrees when we weld them out,” Pinder continues.

“When they’re on their side we used to use scaffolding, and the welders would climb the scaffolding and do their work on that. Now we use these scissor lifts to take the welder and the wire feeder up the unit and they can use that instead of having to climb up and down scaffolding, so it’s a lot safer and a lot more user-friendly.”