Terex Trucks has renewed its entire forklift fleet

Terex Trucks is a manufacturer of earthmoving vehicles for use in the mining, quarrying, construction and road building sectors. When the ageing forklift trucks needed to be replaced, the main priority was to find reliable, comfortable and economical trucks that were also equipped with a fleet management system. Following an open tender, Terex Trucks selected Crown as the supplier for the new forklift fleet, which includes the new C-5 forklifts with LPG engines.

In demand: robust and powerful gas-powered forklifts

The industrial trucks are used throughout the entire production facility. The new C-5 counterbalance truck plays a key role in this. As the products manufactured in Motherwell are large and bulky in nature, robust and powerful gas forklifts were required. Crown's C-5 is used to transport wheels, axles and heavy parts from the warehouse and often supplies the production lines with components from outdoor storage areas. All C-5 forklift trucks are therefore equipped with a full cab and weighing function. A belt interlock system provides additional safety: the forklift truck only starts up when the operator is strapped in.

"We needed a robust truck because the site is on a hill and one of our main storage areas for large parts is at the top of the site."

Kevin Cooper, Section Leader, Terex Trucks Motherwell

Diagnostic tool directly on the truck

The C-5 is not only used outdoors, but also feeds the production lines with large components. Inside the buildings, the maximum speed of the C-5 is limited to eight kilometers per hour using the Crown Access 123 system control. Crown service technicians also use Access 123, which offers them a wide range of diagnostic functions via an intuitive display directly on the truck - without removing covers and without an external laptop or handheld.

Crown C-5 trucks are equipped as standard with the eSmart fuel control system, an accurate fuel gauge that monitors fuel pressure and temperature and displays the current, average and total amount of fuel used. "The uptime indicator on the dashboard is a very handy feature that gives the operator the remaining operating time and warns them when they need to top up with gas," explains Section Leader Kevin Cooper. "Operators can head for the gas filling station in good time. We have also found that the C-5 is very fuel efficient and consumes much less than we expected."

Just-in-time delivery to production

On the production line, a Crown SH 5500 heavy-duty pallet truck in wide-track design with rotating clamps positions the large wheels of the Terex Trucks tugs for mounting on the axles. The robust, centrally positioned Crown X10 tiller enables optimum right- or left-handed operation and therefore precise maneuvering.

"We can track which trucks are being used and assess the utilization of our fleet."

Willie Miller, Warehouse Manager, Terex Trucks Motherwell

Smaller parts are transported just-in-time directly from the warehouse to the production line. Crown ESR 5200 reach trucks, Crown SP 3500 high-lift order pickers and the Crown Wave multi-purpose vehicle are used here to guarantee optimum productivity.

The ESR 5200 reach trucks are used to store pallets in the racks and remove them for production supply. Frequently required parts are picked with SP 3500 high lift order pickers, supported by Crown Wave.

More security through access control

All vehicles supplied by Crown are equipped with InfoLink, Crown's fleet management system. "Before we had the Crown trucks, there was only manual function control," explains Willie Miller, Warehouse Manager at Terex Trucks. "Today, every operator has their own access card, so we know exactly who is moving which truck and when. This increases safety, as only people with the required driving license can operate the trucks. The system even informs us when an operator's license needs to be renewed or sends warnings by email if there is a collision or the truck is blocked."

"Forklift driver - please get in touch!"

InfoLink also provides Terex Trucks with real-time information on fleet utilization and readiness: "We can track which trucks are being used and assess the utilization of our fleet," continues Willie Miller. "The trucks send email messages when an inspection is due or when individual trucks are not operational due to scheduled maintenance. To contact an operator, we can send an email to the truck - this is a big help in an operation of our size. We send a ping message to the truck asking the operator to report to their supervisor. The message is shown on the display and InfoLink prompts the driver to acknowledge the signal so that the supervisor recognizes that the operator has received the message. This process has proven to be very practical."

Jörn Erdmann