Rochester-based Auto Renovations has taken delivery of a new Samuk R45D from local dealer Britannia Fork Trucks, marking a significant leap forward in technology over the fifteen-year-old model it replaces.

The diesel-powered counterbalance truck benefits from a lifting capacity of up to 4.5 tonnes and has been re-rated with a load centre of 900mm. This ensures it is perfectly suited to lifting both cars and light commercial vehicles and positioning them on a four tier pallet stacking system. Its Triplex mast enables the truck to load accident damaged vehicles onto the top deck of the salvage trucks which visit the yard regularly.

Operating outside, the new Samuk is expected to perform approximately 50 vehicle movements per day, and benefits from an all-weather cab with a powerful heating and ventilation system which has proved an instant hit with drivers.

Paul Seymour, a Director of Auto Renovations, explains: “Our previous truck had an open-cab, which made it particularly unpleasant to operate in the winter or when it was raining. It was also becoming harder to repair and certify, so we looked at a number of different products available on the market.

“We selected the Samuk as it was a modern truck with all of the on-board features we required, together with a proven driveline and first class local dealer support,” he adds.

Auto Renovations specialises in handling a surprisingly large number of stolen-recovered cars as well as accident damaged vehicles which are too badly smashed to be driven, making its three and four pallet stacking system necessary in spite of the large storage area. The narrow gangways combined with the high manoeuvrability of the R45D permits the maximum number of vehicles to be stored on-site, since they can be positioned directly alongside each other without leaving gaps.

As with all trucks in Samuk’s latest R-Series range, the R45D offers excellent through-mast visibility, which helps to reduce the possibility of accidents and load damage – essential when lifting high value stolen-recovered automobiles, such as Porches and Bentleys.

The company is in the process of taxing and registering its forklift for operation on the public highway, to enable it to travel on Auto Renovation’s own recovery trucks. This will enable the forklift to assist in the loading of vehicles at the scene of road traffic accidents.

Expected to remain with Auto Renovations for its full working life, the new Samuk will be available for operation up to seven days a week. It will be serviced by mobile engineers from Britannia Fork Trucks, who operate a fleet of highly specified service vans with factory trained service engineers carrying the most commonly required service parts.

Samuk Lift Trucks Limited is based in Toddington and Peterborough. The company is headed by Sir Neville Bowman-Shaw, the founder of Lancer Boss, and is the exclusive importer of Hangcha Lift Trucks in the UK, sold under the Samuk+HC brand. Hangcha Lift Trucks is the second largest Chinese forklift truck manufacturer, having been making trucks since 1974. The current Hangcha factories can produce up to 40,000 trucks a year and employ over 800 people. The factories are certified as complying with ISO 9001 quality management and ISO 14001 environmental management standards. Development of the company's facilities, which will be complete in 2008, will double its single shift output.