Send this newsletter to an associate   Print version   Dear reader, WELCOME TO FORKLIFTACTION.COM, MATERIALS HANDLING ONLINE. This is issue #186 - 02 December 2004 of the weekly newsletter for industry professionals. “Noell China has had a bumper November, installing 14 container handling machines around the world.” INSIDE FORKLIFTACTION.COM NEWS • Chalmers in multimillion dollar expansion • Fortis announces reorganisation • OSHA fines company for poor forklift training • Bumper month for Noell China • Forkliftaction.com confirms ProMat attendance! • Movers & Shakers • Van Eck crowned Dutch forklift champion • Desperate job hunt for UK operator • Forklift to the rescue in rollover drama SAFETY FIRST: Wayne Chornohus: Safety starts with a quality forklift FORK TALK: Record entries for Awards 2005 MEDIA RELEASES 1. New from KAUP: TRIPLE PALLET HANDLER Type T 429 1-2-3 2. Introducing POWERKEY®’s new Industrial Vehicle Fleet Management System Send this newsletter to an associate   The caption competition – FINAL WEEK! Forkliftaction.com’s popular caption competition, which has been running in the Forkliftaction.com Discussion Forums in recent weeks, is in its final week. NOW is the time to submit your entry, as the judges (you, the readers) will begin their deliberations on December 9. Click here to view our funny photo and the current entries, and to submit yours. Forkliftaction.com’s caption competitions are a great way to get involved in the online materials handling community, and past contests have proven very popular. The most entertaining caption will be announced in the newsletter and online. Have fun!   Chalmers in multimillion dollar expansion BRISBANE, Australia Transport, logistics and container park operator, Chalmers Industries has opened a AUD3.3 million (USD2.6 million) freight station at the Port of Brisbane. Chalmers chief executive Graeme Birch said the freight station was the latest in a series of key port-based developments undertaken by the company since it established its container park and packing facility at Fisherman Islands in 2000. “The new development, which incorporates a 3000 square metre (32,000 square feet) warehouse, container washing area and customs facilities, enables us to keep pace with continued trade growth at the Port of Brisbane, and most importantly to capitalise on the opportunities this growth presents,” Birch said. The new facility follows a 2.5-hectare (six acre) expansion of Chalmers’ container park earlier this year. Port of Brisbane Corporation acting chairman David Harrison said Brisbane’s record trade growth, which saw container trade increase by 12 per cent and total trade reach 25.1 million tonnes in 2003/2004, was expected to continue. He said the Chalmers facility was the first of several new developments planned for the port in 2005. “Work has begun on a purpose-built 28-hectare (69-acre) long-term car storage precinct which will cater for the growing motor vehicle import market,” Harrison added. Fortis announces reorganisation BRUSSELS, Belgium European financial services giant Fortis has restructured its leasing companies to move them under a new, single, umbrella: Fortis Lease Group. Based in Luxembourg, Fortis Lease Group will be responsible for the strategy, coordination and follow-up of all of Fortis’s leasing activities. “By increasing the visibility and cohesion of Fortis’s leasing businesses, the creation of Fortis Lease Group should speed up development into a leading European leasing operator,” a company statement said. Fortis’s leasing operations would be transferred to Fortis Lease Group through a series of intra-company deals. Fortis Lease specialises in leasing products for cars, machinery, forklift, IT equipment and real estate. Fortis Lease operates in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Poland. OSHA fines company for poor forklift training VERNON, CN, United States The US Occupational Safety & Health Administration has fined Anocoil Corp USD15,000 after a fatal forklift accident in August. OSHA identified insufficient forklift training as a contributing factor. Dave Turner died when a forklift pinned him against a compactor on August 18. The Hartford Courant reported that OSHA found Turner had not set the brake or chocked the forklift’s wheels. The 16,000-pound (7.2-tonne) forklift rolled down an incline and crushed Turner against the compactor. OSHA fined Anocoil USD22,776, but reduced the penalty to USD15,000 after the company agreed to hire a consultant to evaluate materials handling and forklift procedures at its Rockville and Enfield plants. The consultant’s report must be received by OSHA by February 2005. Among the violations noted in a 33-page inspection report were the absence of seat belts on two forklifts, employees wearing conductive materials such as wedding rings while working with electricity, and the use of insufficient gloves while working with corrosive liquids. Bumper month for Noell China ZHANGZHOU, China Noell China has had a bumper November through its delivery books, installing 14 container handling machines, worth millions of dollars, in various locations around the world. The first delivery of the month was on November 7, when the company delivered six rubber-tyred gantry cranes to Shekou Container Terminal Phase II. This was followed on November 9 with the arrival of three ship-to-shore cranes at Marport, Turkey, and eight rubber-tyred gantry cranes to Ningbo Port Phase IV Terminal on November 16. Forkliftaction.com News has pictures of the Marport and Ningbo Port deliveries available for viewing on the website. Click the headline above to see them. Forkliftaction.com confirms ProMat attendance! Forkliftaction.com’s Rodger Lamb (pictured online) will be representing our company at ProMat in Chicago, January 10-13. He will not have a booth but, climate permitting, you will see him walking the aisles in Forkliftaction.com’s distinctive orange and black uniform. Some exhibitors and visitors will have met Rodger at IMHX in the UK and NA2004 in Cleveland this year. Don’t hesitate to stop him and ask any questions you have about the Forkliftaction.com portal and its opportunities for your business, including our soon-to-be-released Marketplace, the online used equipment classifieds service. If you would like to arrange a meeting, you can contact Rodger directly on his cell (mobile) phone: +61-419-535635, or by emailing rlamb@forkliftaction.com. Rodger will also be staying in the Chicago area after ProMat to learn more about the materials handling industry in the area and to keep in contact with our US business partners. Click the headline above to see a picture of Rodger online. Movers & Shakers Yale Europe has appointed Steve Ridgway as its new strategic marketing manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Ridgway has worked for Yale for more than 16 years, previously holding the positions of advertising and sales promotion and dealer development manager. Nissan Forklift Corp president Mark Akabori has been replaced by Takanobu “Tak” Tokugawa. Tokugawa, formerly general manager of overseas sales in the Japanese parent’s industrial machinery division, assumed the role on October 1. Akabori, who served in the position for seven years, has returned to Japan. Van Eck crowned Dutch forklift champion ROTTERDAM, Netherlands Marcel van Eck has been judged the best forklift driver in Holland after winning the 9th Dutch forklift championships in Rotterdam on November 27. Van Eck, an operator with logistics company TDG, recouped the title, having won it in 1999, from 31 finalists, ending the four-year reign of the absent Jan Boverhof. About 125 drivers participated in the championships, and of the 31 finalists, Van Eck dominated with a score of 145 out of 155 points, eclipsing runner-up Antoon Rasenberg by 20 points. The Dutch championships, sponsored by Hyster, BT, Nissan, Jungheinrich, Toyota, Exide, Still, PIT and Blanken Controls, were held as part of the first “Day of the Warehouse” conference which attracted more than 450 visitors. Desperate job hunt for UK operator THORPLANDS, United Kingdom A desperate unemployed forklift operator has blamed ageism for his fruitless job search in the UK. Matt Earl, 39, wrote an open letter to the Northampton Evening Telegraph, which read: “I am currently unemployed and at the age of 39 it seems my chances of employment are diminishing every day. “I have been to countless agencies who advertise numerous forklift operator jobs and, once registered with an agency, the jobs are no longer available. “I have nearly 15 years’ experience in warehousing and am constantly overlooked for even an interview at companies, and can only assume this is due to age. “The sooner companies realise the wealth of experience that is available to them by taking a chance on the more mature applicant, the easier my job search will become but I will not be holding my breath.” If you can help in Matt’s job search, write to news@forkliftaction.com and we will pass along your details. Let’s see if we can find Matt a job! Forklift to the rescue in rollover drama OMAHA, NE, United States A warehouse manager and his forklift have saved the life of a man trapped under a rolled truck. The Omaha World-Herald said the man became pinned under a tyre when his pickup truck rolled onto him in an Omaha car park, injuring his leg. Exide Technologies warehouse manager Eric Heiny came to the rescue aboard his propane forklift. Exide’s car park was adjacent to the lot where the accident happened. The pickup was lifted off the man, and he was rushed to Creighton University Medical Centre. Send this newsletter to an associate   WAYNE CHORNOHUS: SAFETY STARTS WITH A QUALITY FORKLIFT VANCOUVER, Canada Purchasing the right forklift can be very challenging. If buying new, beware of dealer numbers stating market share, reliability or low maintenance etc. The dealer or seller will tell you whatever he thinks will sell the truck. Click here for the full text of this Safety First feature.     RECORD ENTRIES FOR AWARDS 2005 ALTON, United Kingdom An amazing 27 nominations have made it past the selection panel’s expert scrutiny to become finalists in the Fork Lift Truck Association’s Annual Awards for Excellence 2005. That’s almost double last year’s total “and an all-time record for the Awards,” says FLTA chief executive David Ellison. “It just goes to show that competition for these accolades is fiercer than ever.” FLTA chairman Richard Baxter said that, until the January 31 closing date, anyone working in materials handling could vote in the categories of safety, environment, ergonomics and innovation. “These awards encourage constant improvement by recognising and rewarding those individuals and companies who have made outstanding contributions,” he said. “If they are to have their maximum beneficial effect on our industry, they must go to the most deserving recipients, which is why it is so vital that everyone votes.” Voting cards were circulated to depots of all FLTA member companies and were the only valid means of taking part (photocopies, faxes etc would not count), the FLTA says. To show how strong and varied the field is, here are the finalists: Safety Brigade, Castell, CAT, Hyster, Jungheinrich, Long Reach, Mondi, Palletcap Environment Brigade, CAT, Daewoo, Jungheinrich, Watts Ergonomics BT Rolatruc, CAT, Daewoo, Hyster, STILL Innovation BT Rolatruc, CMP, Crown, Hyster, Jungheinrich, Long Reach, Narrow Aisle, STILL, Translift Bendi The Awards 2005 event is being staged on February 26 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. Bookings are being taken now (individually and in tables of 10).   1. New from KAUP: TRIPLE PALLET HANDLER Type T 429 1-2-3 A new version of the Triple Pallet Handler Type 4 T 429 1-2-3 with ISO class 3 mounting and a capacity of 3.600 Kg / 600 mm l.c. has been designed and released to the world market. Weight and visibility have been optimised for large ISO class 3 trucks. Benefits of the new design are: a) Closes the gap of the large difference in capacity between the 3 T 429 1-2-3 with 3.000 kg / 600 mm l.c. and the 4 T 429 1-2-3 with 4.500 kg / 600 mm l.c. b) Improved visibility and residual capacity compared to the former 4 T 429 1-2-3... For more information, visit www.kaup.de or email kaup@kaup.de. Click here for the full text of this release, including pictures. 2. Introducing POWERKEY®’s new Industrial Vehicle Fleet Management System International Electronics, Inc. (IEI, NASDAQ: IEIB), a leading manufacturer of end-to-end security and access control products for industrial and commercial applications, introduced two new systems to the company’s PowerKey® family of access control products for industrial vehicles — the PowerKey 2600 and the PowerKey 3600.  Significant new enhancements in the PowerKey 2600 /3600’s mechanical and electrical design include: improved packaging, factory built vehicle harnesses, optimized impact monitoring  and enhanced wireless communication. Combined, these new features will decrease installation time, reduce vehicle downtime, permit better spares inventory management, and increase the end-of-lease value of vehicles due to higher driver... Call us today for more information. 427 Turnpike Street Canton, MA 02021 877-757-9783 781-821-5566 www.ieib.com/powerkey www.powerkeysystems.com Click here for the full text of this release, including pictures. IN THE DISCUSSION FORUMS UPCOMING EVENTS TENDERS FAST FACTS In the Discussion Forums Do you have info? "Bit of info pls! There is a card behind a plate on the bulk head - do the pots on that control the function speeds? We've only got slow lift - thanks." jim_s, United Kingdom What do you think? "I want to know what type of fleet management systems people are using across the globe. In Britain I have found Log-IT Systems the best for many of my customers. What are others thoughts on systems? Are there any horror stories people have had?" thomas_m, United Kingdom Can you help? "Who knows the quality of the Hyster RS45, and the amount of pieces which are produced every year? I have a terminal container would like to buy this truck." lele_l, Andorra Gone are the days... "Gone are the days when operators took pride in their equipment; the hurry-up mentality prevails to the extent that loads are moved at breakneck speeds with little consideration of potential consequences." vic_k, United Kingdom FORKLIFTACTION.COM Discussion Forums >> Upcoming Events 1. Safety in Action/Materials & Manual Handling 2005 Melbourne, Australia 21st to 23rd March 2005 2. National Manufacturing Week (NMW) 2005 Melbourne, Australia 10th to 13th May 2005 FORKLIFTACTION.COM Events >> Tenders 1. Forklifts & hand lift trucks - Qty 28 - Iraq Bagdad, Iraq Closing: 06 December 2004 Contract: W914NS-05-Q-9036 FORKLIFTACTION.COM Tenders >> Fast Facts 1. New from KAUP: TRIPLE PALLET HANDLER Type T 429 1-2-3 2. Nissan Forklift Europe has launched a new website, including a “Product Selector”, downloads and more. See www.nissan-nfe.com. 3. Introducing POWERKEY®’s new Industrial Vehicle Fleet Management System FORKLIFTACTION.COM News >>   To tailor your newsletter preferences, click here to access your member account online. Should you no longer wish to receive news from Forkliftaction.com, please click here to cancel your subscription. Forkliftaction.com News is published by Forkliftaction.com PO Box 1439, Milton QLD 4064, Australia – info@forkliftaction.com.