Pall-Ex goes for gas in new hub

Pallet network Pall-Ex is awarding the contract for the supply and management of a fleet of gas-powered forklift trucks and other materials handling equipment at its new £10m central hub in Ellistown to Hyster distributor Barloworld.
Due to open in March, the 18,600sq m hub will replace the network’s current centre at Gotham and is located less than 20 miles south of it, off j22 of the M1. Pall-Ex is already considering running dual-fuel tucks from the site (MT October 10)
The five-year contract covers supply and management on site of 30 cng-powered counterbalanced Hyster Forklifts 1.5-tonne and 2-tonne units and other equipment including sweepers, a shunter and a waste compaction system. Barloworld is also providing an onsite gas station in conjunction with British gas.
No specialist warehouse trucks are needed yet, explains Pall-Ex operations director Adrian Russell, because the centre will mainly be blockstaking pallets at ground level for fast trans-shipment. “We’ll be using 16,000sq m for [racked] warehousing and pick-and- pack operations,” he says.
Gas was chosen, adds Russell because the financial models stack up and because of significant environmental benefits”. Pall-Ex has even qualified for a grant to establish the on-site gas supply as it will be a public access station “we have 82 companies coming in every night and they’ll have access to it for road vehicles”.
All forklifts will be fitted with the Davis Derby Monitoring system to report on how they are driven, impacts, braking and fuel consumption. “Our business stands and falls on the efficiency of these forklifts so we need our drivers to drive them to the optimum,” explains Russell. “We’ll be incentivising them with bonus packages.”
Komatsu and Mitsubishi were considered for the materials handling contract, reveals Russell, “But we decided that to get the best return on investment we should so to a single supplier… and Barloworld had the right infrastructure.”
The order may lead to further work with pall-Ex’s 82 strong membership. “we’re looking at moving towards central procurement over the next couple of years to help add value for our members,” says Russell. “We’re already looking at a group fuel purchase, for instance, as we buy around 4.5 million litres a month.”
Barloworld has recently won a five-year contract with carmaker MG Rover for the supply servicing and fleet management of over 240 units of handling equipment as its long bridge plant. Included are 111 electric counterbalanced tucks, 71 flatbed trailers and a number of tow tractors.