Dear reader,
WELCOME TO FORKLIFTACTION.COM,
MATERIALS HANDLING ONLINE.
This is issue #123 - 04
September 2003 of the weekly newsletter for industry
professionals.
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Forkliftaction.com makes it easy to plan your
business travel by providing a detailed list of world
materials handling events on Forkliftaction.coms events
page. Our researchers constantly gather information on new
events and enter them into our revolving calendar, which
currently lists 49 upcoming events. The events list allows you
to plan weeks, months, even years ahead of schedule. If your
company is exhibiting at an event, or if you are hosting
seminars, workshops, training courses, corporate events or
product launches, email us at events@forkliftaction.com,
and we will try to include them in the
calendar.
This week Forkliftaction.com's research
team has revised some specifications in the Equipment
Catalogue for Detas
and Fiora
forklifts, as well as some attachments manufactured by Meyer.
If you deal with these brands, please check our entries and
contact Rodger
Lamb if changes are required.
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1.
COURT ACTIONS KEEP MEMPHIS HOPPING 
MEMPHIS, TN, United States
Defendant
Toyota Materials Handling USA Inc (TMHU) has responded
to two federal lawsuits and, separately, a grand jury
has indicted Bernard Panchikal, controlling shareholder
of former Toyota dealer CTK Inc, for allegedly making
false insurance claims.
Two forklift
manufacturers, affiliated dealers and financing sources
are pursuing litigation in the US District Court in
Memphis and have begun elaborating on their
claims.
Yale Materials Handling Corp (YMHC)
launched action against TMHU and dealer Lilly Co on July
30, alleging TMHU has caused a breach in Yale's
longstanding dealer relationship with Lilly (Forkliftaction.com News #121). YMHC is
headquartered in Greenville, North Carolina, TMHU in
Irvine, California, and Lilly in Memphis,
Tennessee.
TMHU has notified customers that it
"has retained the Lilly Co, our authorised agent, to
provide service and parts for your Toyota lift trucks"
and listed five Lilly locations in Memphis and Jackson,
Tennessee; Tupelo and Jackson, Mississippi; and
Jonesboro, Arkansas. Until August 1, CTK entities
represented TMHU in most of those locations under a
relationship that Toyota terminated.
Lilly
continues to represent Yale but, pending resolution of
the litigation, Yale now lacks an exclusive dealer
network in the Mid-South. Industry speculation focuses
on Yale's possible scenarios to obtain other
representation and TMHU's ability to make a clean
transition to Lilly.
On August 27, TMHU denied
most of the Yale allegations and filed a counterclaim
saying Yale "is maliciously and intentionally
interfering with the existing contractual relationship
between Toyota and Lilly" and has "wrongfully threatened
litigation and termination of dealership agreements to
coerce Lilly to refrain from entering into these
transactions".
Earlier, Lilly also denied Yale's
accusations and filed to stop Yale's termination of its
dealer agreements. An October 29 hearing will consider
Lilly's request for a preliminary injunction against
Yale.
On August 28, as defendant in another
federal suit, TMHU filed its opposition to a hearing
delay sought by three commercial financing units of
Citigroup Inc, of New York. The Citigroup suit, filed on
August 18, seeks recovery of financing loans to former
Toyota dealer CTK and related entities and sought a
September 8 hearing on its request for a preliminary
injunction (Forkliftaction.com News
#122).
"Such a hearing is totally unnecessary
in the first place," TMHU said in a court filing. Among
the complications, TMHU's counsel may need to
participate in discovery depositions in the Yale
case.
CTK's Mr Panchikal is among the defendants
in the Citigroup suit, but he has other legal problems.
On August 19, the Shelby County Grand Jury in Memphis
returned a two-count indictment alleging he filed a
fraudulent USD10,000 to USD60,000 insurance claim with
CNA Insurance Co and a false police report. The
indictment said the fraud was perpetrated against the
Nashville, Tennessee, regional office of the
Chicago-based global insurance firm.
Mr
Panchikal, 39, posted bond on August 22 and is scheduled
for an arraignment hearing on September 29 in Division 1
of the Shelby County Criminal Court.
- Toyota website -
2.
AIRTRAX, FILCO TERMINATE TALKS
MULHEIM, Germany
FiLCO GmbH and
Airtrax Inc have terminated negotiations announced in
May which would have seen Airtrax buy a substantial part
of FiLCO's new forklift manufacturing
business.
Airtrax president Peter Amico told
Forkliftaction.com News this week that the financial
requirements for the proposed buy-in were too great and
too immediate for Airtrax to facilitate.
FiLCO
purchased the bankrupt Clark Material Handling GmbH from
the receiver in April. Airtrax's contribution, through a
non-binding agreement, would have sped the re-opening of
the Clark factory, and there were suggestions Airtrax
would manufacture its revolutionary ATX-Sidewinder
omni-directional forklift at Clarks Mulheim plant (See Forkliftaction.com News
#106).
"By terms of the agreement between
(FiLCO) and the German unions, the primary objective was
to get the more than 250 employees back to work as soon
as possible, to get the plant back in production," Mr
Amico said.
"Because of the enormity of the
project, going over new and outdated inventory, existing
orders, new orders and the immediacy of the entire
project, it became an objective that (Airtrax) was not
equipped to fund in the short term."
According to
statements obtained by Forkliftaction.com News, Airtrax
loaned FiLCO four amounts totalling USD357,390 between
May 5 and May 29. Airtrax demanded repayment of the
loans on August 11, and USD365,435.75 was deposited on
September 2.
Mr Amico said there was no animosity
between the two companies over the failed plan, and
hinted that the companies may cooperate on projects in
the future.
FiLCO has resumed producing Clark
forklifts and lifted its capital from EUR25,000
(USD27,112) to EUR1.25 million (USD1.36 million).
Vice-president Stephan Schmitz said the company planned
to produce 200 forklifts this month.
"Our
customers are confident and have placed orders with
advance payments for machines," he said.
FiLCO
website - www.filcogmbh.com
Airtrax website -
www.airtrax.com
3.
Q2 SALES UP FOR CASCADE
PORTLAND, OR, United
States
Attachments giant Cascade has reported net
sales of USD75.6 million for the second quarter in 2003,
an 18% increase over the USD64.3 million reported in Q2
last year.
Cascade's report credited stronger
sales in North America and Asia, and the strengthening
of foreign currencies against the US dollar, for the
performance boost. Foreign currencies contributed 9% of
the Q2 increase.
The sales boost positively
affected Cascade's bottom line, resulting in net income
of USD5.7 million, compared to USD4.5 million in Q2
2002.
Cascade's report said US forklift shipments
had increased 10% in Q2 compared to Q2 2002, which was
good news for the company's US sales, which rose 14% to
USD45.3 million, compared to USD39.8 million in Q2
2002.
European sales rose 23% from USD15.4
million in Q2 2002 to USD18.9 million, due to "the
strengthening of European currencies" and Cascade's
acquisition of FEMA Forks in March (click here for
details).
Cascade president Robert Warren
said the Asia-Pacific region, where sales rose 26% from
Q2 2002, was "a bright spot". Cascade did not detail the
sales figures.
"We're encouraged that the North
American market continued to show progress and that our
sales generally tracked this growth. On the other hand,
European market conditions remain relatively depressed
and we don't see significant improvement in the near
future," Mr Warren said.
- Cascade website -
4.
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5.
CT9 HONG KONG'S NEXT BIG THING
HONG KONG, Australia
Hong Kong
International Terminals (HIT) will operate 32
rubber-tyred gantry cranes and nine quay cranes at Kwai
Chung Port's new Container Terminal Nine (CT9) North to
meet the future needs of shipping line
customers.
Hong Kongs economic development &
labour secretary Stephen Ip said the opening of the
first berth of CT9 last month was an important
milestone.
"With this new berth coming into
operation, Hong Kong's container throughput this year is
expected to exceed 20 million TEU," he said.
HIT
deputy chairman John Meredith said Kwai Chung was
developing into a prosperous port.
"For more than
30 years, Hong Kong has responded to the demands of an
ever-changing market. CT9 is no exception," he
said.
CT9, Hong Kong's newest container handling
facility, is on the south-eastern shoreline of Tsing Yi.
Once fully completed in 2005, CT9 North will provide HIT
with 700 metres of quay with an alongside depth of 15.5
metres.
6.
NAME CHANGE FOR QFS AUSTRALIA
BRISBANE, Australia
Eight months
after Belgian parts giant TVH Forklift Parts bought it
out, QFS Australia has changed its name to TVH
Australasia Pty Ltd.
Chief executive Steve
Cunliffe told Forkliftaction.com News the name
change, effective from September 1, better reflected
TVH's 100% ownership of the Australian
business.
"This change incorporates our ongoing
dedication to local and regional customers. It also
enables us to provide the benefits offered by a global
business that retains family values," he said.
- TVH Australasia website -
7.
FORKLIFT STOPS BANK ROBBERY
BUFFALO, NY, United States
A bank
robber with a foot-long screwdriver was no match for two
intrepid citizens, a forklift and a plank of wood last
week.
The FBI has commended Jason Strzeszynski
and Robert Okoniewski for chasing a suspected bank
robber and pinning him down until police arrived. Mr
Okoniewski chased the suspect in a forklift, then used a
metre-long piece of wood to confront the man, according
to a Buffalo News report.
Mr Strzeszynski had
left a tavern when he saw the man running down the
street carrying a long screwdriver. He chased the man
into a nearby yard, where Mr Okoniewski was using a
forklift.
"I began chasing the guy on my
forklift," Mr Okoniewski told the newspaper. "It moves
pretty fast, about 15 miles an hour, and I was gaining
on him." The brand of forklift was not
reported.
Mr Okoniewski then joined the foot
chase, taking the piece of wood, and squaring off with
the robber. The two pursuers knocked the man to the
ground and held him until police arrived.
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8.
FORKLIFT SAFETY MADE EASIER WITH
SATTACH
ADELAIDE, Australia
Visibility has
always been a problem in high lift warehouses or when
manoeuvring bulky loads. A camera is one solution, but
transmitting to the cab monitor is difficult.
Tele-camera signals are weak and easily distorted, and
normal cable fails under strain from pulleys.
Sattach
has just released a reel designed in Europe by Demac
specifically for this purpose, featuring:
~ silver
rings in brushes for better transmission
~ electrical
conductor shielding
~ hydraulic tubing for physical
toughness
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Phone
+61-8-8268-4111, email tony.ford@sattach.com.au
or see www.sattach.com.au.
Click here for the full text of this
release and photographs.
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14.
151 TON PORTAL CRANE
Portsmouth, VA, United
States
Closing: 06 October 2003 TBA - Contract:
N62472-97-D-1643
15.
LIFTING TRUCKS
Athens, Greece
Closing: 22
October 2003 10:15am - Contract: CPV: 29221510
16.
KALMAR FORKLIFT
Norfolk VA, United
States
Closing: 05 September 2003 TBA - Contract:
N00189-03-T-0658
17.
ELECTRIC SCISSOR LIFT
Sheppard AFB TX, United
States
Closing: 09 September 2003 4:30pm - Contract:
F13CEO32250100
18.
CRANES
Athens, Greece
Closing: 22 October
2003 10:15am - Contract: CPV: 29221410
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