Penwith Cold Store in Cornwall has taken delivery of a new Samuk HJ15 three wheel electric forklift truck from the local Samuk dealer, PWF Forklifts.

With a lifting capacity of up to 1.5 tonnes, the truck will be used to move a variety of frozen food products including items from local bakers, a Cornish pasty manufacturer and a number of regional fisheries on pallets across the company's three cold storage units in Hayle, Cornwall. Copella Fruit Juices, part of PepsiCo, is the latest food industry member to invest in Salvo, Castell's drive-away prevention system. The innovative safety device has been fitted to both loading bays at Copella's factory in Boxford, Suffolk, safeguarding 50 deliveries per week.

The natural fruit juice company felt it unnecessary to consider any rival loading-bay-safety technologies. "Salvo has been very successful elsewhere in PepsiCo," reveals John Watson, Copella's Health & Safety Manager, "so it was logical for it be installed here too." Salvo currently protects a total of 103 bays, across six sites, for PepsiCo's Walkers Crisps.

Having reversed their trailer up to the relevant bay, drivers collect a Salvo Susie lock from its storage box inside the warehouse. As the lock is fitted to the exposed emergency air line coupling – effectively immobilising the trailer - it releases a uniquely-coded key. Drivers hand the key to the loader, who inserts it into the control box next to the bay, allowing the motorised door to be raised and the dock leveller positioned. The key remains trapped in the control box until the door is fully closed.

Like all products in Samuk's popular range of HJ series trucks, which span the 1.3 to 2 tonne sector, this model features a heavy-duty mast designed to resist wear and tear. This also provides an extremely rigid base for the carriage and forks, allowing Penwith Cold Store to make safe use of the truck's good operating speeds.

The truck's specification includes fully programmable regenerative electric braking, which almost eliminates the need for the footbrake and can be adjusted to suit the load, site and operator. A toggle-action park brake is also fitted which can hold the truck securely on inclines of up to 15 per cent.

"Space inside the cold store area is very restricted between the racking systems, which meant we needed a short-wheel base truck offering exceptional manoeuvrability," says Bernard Durrants of Penwith Cold Store.

"After looking at a number of different forklifts on the market we opted for the Samuk, as it met each of our core requirements and was available with a competitive package from the local dealer, which will support the truck over a long working life on our fleet," adds Mr Durrants.

Operating in average temperatures of -20°F, the Samuk HJ15 is expected to remain in operation with Penwith Cold Store for its full working life. Routine servicing and maintenance will be carried out on-site by PWF Forklifts, which operates a fleet of highly specified service vans with factory-trained 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.