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Working in the sub-zero world of the cold store demands the highest standards of visibility, reliability and comfort. Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks has now developed a brand-new range of cold cabins for its SENSiA reach trucks, which the company says are tailored to work productively and reliably – even in temperatures as low as -35 degrees.

Like every product in the Mitsubishi cold store line-up, SENSiA cold store models have been specified with cold-resistant cabling and waterproofed electrics: protecting against damage from cold and moisture. While SENSiA’s thermostatically controlled heaters protect critical components, its hydraulics have been optimised to perform in the coldest of conditions.

Recognising a reach truck is only as productive as its operator, designers at Mitsubishi looked for ways to do more than keep operators warm in their cabins.

Developed for energy efficiency, each cabin is generously insulated and features a 1700 W heater to ensure the optimum working environment for each operator throughout the longest shifts.

Available on standard chassis reach trucks, cabins are spacious by design. Every element of the operator compartment has been specified to keep it uncluttered: from its intelligent fingertip controls to its folding steering wheel console.

Controls are kept within easy, avoiding unnecessary movement to reduce the risk of operator fatigue. For added control, every cold store model benefits from SENSiA’s intelligent SDS (Sensitive Drive System). Fitted as standard, SDS automatically tailors the truck’s performance to the specific needs of driver and load. As a result, it delivers smooth start and stop movements and agile, stable performance.

Visibility is paramount in any lifting operation. Like every SENSiA reach truck, cold store cabin models offer 360-degree visibility. The cabin’s heated side windows protect against frost, misting and condensation, ensuring exceptional visibility and safe, productive performance.

A clear-view, crash-proof polycarbonate roof – fitted as standard – means operators benefit from maximum upwards views, while being shielded from falling debris of any shape or size.

The cabin’s robust steel frame, which features a reinforced collision guard, offers added protection to operator, bodywork and door when working in tight spaces.

SENSiA is the latest addition to the Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks range of lift trucks dedicated to cold store applications. Other products in the range include VELiA, its low level order picker; electric counterbalance trucks, including the popular EDiA EM and its family of pallet trucks, PREMiA.

Roger Warnes Transport, the Norfolk (UK)-based bulk haulage specialist, has selected a package of TruTac fleet management software tools to ensure the highest level of compliance and efficient control of its 90-strong mixed vehicle fleet.

Operating throughout the UK from depots in Great Dunham and Kings Lynn, the company provides a diverse range of bulk transport services, using a mix of articulated and rigid tippers and walking-floor vehicles.

Following a recent due diligence review and as members of FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) Roger Warnes Transport installed TruTac’s TruControl and TruLicence systems to manage tachograph analysis and driver licence checks – the combination of which provides the company with guaranteed compliance and helps to ensure best practice across the fleet.

For tachograph analysis, TruControl is a fully secure, web-based system which provides automated exception-based reporting across multiple depots. Reports can be prepared instantly and emailed to any transport manager or multiple users to suit any fleet size and it is fully compliant with the hour’s law and WTD (Working Time Directive).

To reduce administration and to help Roger Warnes Transport demonstrate a duty of care towards its drivers, TruLicence is an online checking and validation service which protects against employees driving without a valid licence. The unique application also guards against potential litigation in the event of accidents where a driver’s licence is found to be invalid.

Roger Warnes Transport is a VOSA-approved ATF (Authorised Testing Facility) incorporating a tachograph calibration centre and test facilities for HGV and PSV vehicles. The company is also a bulk storage specialist with the facility to store 20,000 tonnes of grain, oil seed and sugar beet pulp, using computerised stock control. Furthermore, automated grain sampling and temperature monitoring throughout, combine to achieve TASCC (Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops) standards.

Union Industries, manufacturer of industrial rapid roll doors, has helped specialist cooked chicken manufacturer Benson Park with its recent chill store extension, which includes new state of the art cooking processes.

Benson Park was recently acquired by the well-known Cranswick Group and the project at the Hull site is its first venture in to the cooked chicken sector. The new extension has increased capacity by 30% due to quicker stock intake and has also created new jobs. Capacity has also been increased with a new cooking process, which is far more efficient and incorporates new cooking techniques.

Leeds (UK)-based Union Industries, which designs, manufactures, installs and maintains its own range of fact acting doors, has fitted two Matadoors to help Benson Park to meet its strict temperature control and hygiene standards.

Benson Park is a specialist manufacturer of cooked poultry products for the food industry. It operates from a purpose-built factory that has been designed to produce high quality cooked meat products efficiently and to the best possible safety standards. They supply well known food-to-go manufacturers with chicken in its various forms including cooked, sliced, diced and shredded.

The Matadoor is ideally suited for internal openings with high volume traffic, whether for forklift trucks, pallet trucks or personnel with trolleys and carts. Its fast opening and closing operating cycle ensures that as little of the cold as possible escapes when gaining access, meaning energy savings and cost reductions in refrigeration

In common with the other doors in the range, the Matadoor features Union’s highly-regarded ‘Crash-Out’ damage protection facility which ensures that they remain operable if the bottom beam is hit by a speeding vehicle. This proven system, which has been a central attribute of Union’s doors for over 25 years, drastically reduces repair costs and guarantees minimal down-time if the door is impacted by traffic such as forklift trucks.

Cold Chain Storage Network (CCN) – one of Asia’s leading temperature controlled storage and distribution specialists – has replaced the existing articulated lift truck fleet at its Malaysia facility with 8 new Flexi AC CS articulated forklifts designed and built by Narrow Aisle Ltd.

The fleet of Flexi AC Cold Store (CS) articulated trucks will operate at CNN’s 200,000 square foot multi temperature-controlled warehouse which is located in the Malaysian state of Selangor.

The facility offers chilled, frozen, deep frozen and ambient storage facilities to a host of customers and is one of the largest temperature-controlled storage sites in the region.

The Flexi AC CS fleet will be supplied and maintained by Prestar Marketing, part of Narrow Aisle’s global distributor network.

The truck’s ability to increase conventional pallet storage space by up to 30 per cent compared with reach trucks, combined with its VNA aisle performance in modern power mobile rack systems, has dramatically reduced cold store warehouse logistics costs for many users.

Despite its ultra-compact dimensions, the Flexi AC CS has capacity for loads of up to 2000kg and can lift to over 12 metres, while the truck’s specially designed and conditioned electrical and hydraulic system allows constant change of use between cold and ambient environments.

The Flexi AC CS can also operate continuously at temperatures as low as minus 28°C and only needs to leave the cold store for a battery change as battery charging can take place in the cold store itself if this is what the design of the store dictates.

A fully insulated and heated cab system is available to operators who need high volume pallet throughput.

John Maguire, sales and marketing director Narrow Aisle (pictured, with clients), commented: “This is an important contract from a part of the world that has embraced Flexi articulated forklift truck technology with enthusiasm.

“The trucks will be manufactured by Narrow Aisle and supplied to Prestar – our distribution and service partner – for onward delivery to CCN.

“CCN is one of Malaysia’s largest provider of cold chain, multi-temperature logistics and warehousing and has long been an advocate of the articulated truck concept but was moved to seek a higher quality articulated forklift supplier after experiencing a number of operational problems with a US-sourced articulated lift truck brand that the company had been using.”

International logistics service provider Militzer & Münch has extended its Iran service range with a tracking and tracing service from the point of departure all the way to the consignee in Iran. Militzer & Münch started its activities in Iran over fifty years ago with transports to Iran by truck – today, the Militzer & Münch product portfolio comprises services covering the entire supply chain.

Shipments are tracked using a tool that transmits its location via the GSM cellular network. As the tool is not permanently installed, it can be used by different carriers. At this time, Militzer & Münch can monitor up to 250 trucks. Via an online tracking platform, customers can call up the status of their shipment at any time. “With the new end-to-end tracking and tracing system our logistics services have become even more transparent, and safer”, says Dr. Lothar Thoma, CEO M&M Militzer & Münch International Holding AG. “It is part of our quality standards. We accompany our customers every step of the entire supply chain – from the transport and customs clearance to warehousing and last mile distribution in Iran. This also includes the transport and storage of temperature-sensitive goods.”

In the past, Militzer & Münch transported almost 75 percent of the goods via truck, 20 percent were shipped via sea, and five percent were air freight. Militzer & Münch reckons sea freight volumes as well as road transports are going to increase. In preparation for the official lifting of the sanctions, Militzer & Münch negotiated partnerships, for instance in order to secure truck capacities for the time after the sanctions. At the moment, possibilities for rail transports from and to Iran are being examined as an additional option for customers.

“Especially the mechanical engineering sector will profit”, explains Dr. Lothar Thoma, “but we also see good chances for the automotive and the medical engineering industries. Moreover, the field of project logistics opens up new opportunities as there is pent-up demand in many sectors in Iran, such as the oil industry. Spare parts logistics in the aviation sector will also benefit from the lifting of the sanctions.”

Militzer & Münch is one of the few logistics companies that have comprehensive infrastructure in Iran. Through the PTB Group, a sister company, a staff of over 600 at 15 locations in Iran is available to Militzer & Münch. The PTB Group offers about 130,000 square meters of warehousing space, 30,000 of which are roofed. Customers store goods such as spare parts to be able to serve the Iranian market in a timely manner.

In Bandar Abbas, a port city in Southern Iran, the PTB Group uses areas in a designated free trade zone and operates a container terminal. Customers can store their goods duty free, until they are sold or on-forwarded within the country. This offer is especially interesting for the manufacturers of farm machinery or entire plants, as such voluminous goods can in future also be delivered to Bandar Abbas by RORO vessel.

The transport service provider STI Freight Management is now using a different type of fuel. The Spanish subsidiary, S.T.I. Glonet S.L. is introducing LNG trucks for temperature-controlled food transport. Under a contract with the lead logistics provider HAVI Logistics, trailers run five times a week between the HAVI Logistics distribution centres in Carregado and Canelas in Portugal. STI uses Iveco trucks for the 700-kilometre-long route.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is a more environmentally friendly alternative to diesel. Compared to diesel engines, LNG emits around 20 percent less CO2. At the same time, according to industry experts, an LNG-powered truck releases up to 96 percent less nitrogen oxide than a diesel truck. For STI, the implementation of environmentally friendlier fuels is rooted in the company’s philosophy. “According to STI’s motto ‘Taking Quality The Extra Mile’, we constantly work towards minimising our customers’ environmental impact,” explains Cesar Vega, Managing Director of the STI subsidiary in Spain.

Transporting goods with LNG trucks is also economically advantageous for STI. With the LNG shipments in Portugal, the company saves about five percent in fuel costs in comparison to using diesel. “With the background of volatile diesel prices, alternative fuels such as LNG are becoming increasingly important for us,” Vega explains.

To produce LNG, natural gas is cooled to minus 162 degrees and liquefied. Alternatively, LNG can be produced from biogas.

About STI Freight Management
Some 285,500 national and international overland consignments, 8,000 air and sea freight consignments as well as 28,000 payments of customs duty per year. The above figures summarize the portfolio of STI Freight Management GmbH, which is headquartered in Duisburg. Behind these facts is one of the leading contract logistics providers in Europe. Since 1983. STI Freight Management has specialized in the planning and handling of complex transport and logistics projects. The subsidiary of HAVI Global Logistics and Martin-Brower UK Holdings Ltd. employs 221 people at twelve locations. Apart from the international transport of food and other temperature-controlled goods, such as high-quality pharmaceuticals, the company’s competencies also include supplying cruise liners, warehousing and customs clearance.

Hubbard Products, UK-based creator of European Refrigeration Systems is using the Commercial Vehicle Show for the launch of its new range of Diesel over-cab and under-mount refrigeration units.

In what the company says is a first for the UK transport refrigeration market, the brand-new range of Mono-block Diesel powered Un0 over-cab/under mounted systems incorporate a revolutionary (inline drive train) system that removes the need for drive belts. In conjunction with Kinetic Logic from the controller “this will increase service intervals and overall efficiency while giving a reduced cost of ownership,” says the company.

Presented in a stylish new design of ABS casing the Hubbard Un0 range will be available in four sizes for medium to large vehicles.

The four units, Un0 60, Un0 80, Un0 100 and Un0 120 will deliver significant benefits to refrigerated transport operators with low maintenance costs, improved fuel consumption, low noise levels and automatic temperature management through microprocessors. All the units are available with a range of options, including Multi-temperature for frozen and chilled deliveries, alternative voltages, heating systems with hot water and electrical heaters, 100A/H battery and separate fuel tanks.

Dougie Stoddart, Commercial Director for Hubbard Products says, “These are the first Diesel monoblock units Hubbard have offered to the UK Transport Sector. Everybody will know that Hubbard is involved in the development of the next generation of zero emission transport refrigeration systems with the Dearman liquid nitrogen powered technology. However, it is important to remember that diesel power will remain a tried and trusted drive source for many operators. Improving the efficiency of diesel units remains a key target for Hubbard, and the Un0 units are seen as a key stepping stone to acknowledging the importance of improving air quality by reducing or completely removing NOx emissions from the transport refrigeration cycle. Our aim is to make transport refrigeration as environmentally friendly as possible, as quickly as possible. This is another step in that process.”

To demonstrate the synergy between the new range of Un0 units and the on-going development of the Dearman powered liquid nitrogen, Hubbard and Dearman will be showing an example of the ground-breaking engine on stand 3E110 situated in the ‘Cool Pavilion’ at the CV Show 201, staged at the NEC Birmingham between April 26-28.