JCB has won an order for 94 industrial forklifts from a company appointed to be its materials handling fleet service provider.

The multi-million pound deal for the JCB Teletruks is one of the biggest to be placed in the UK this year for industrial forklifts.

The machines – made at JCB Utility Products in Cheadle, Staffs – are now being put to work by materials handling specialists Barloworld Handling at JCB’s 11 plants across Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wales after JCB appointed the company to manage its entire 310-strong materials handling fleet. The total fleet consists of a wide range of equipment including tow tractors and side-loaders in addition to the JCB Teletruks.

The JCB Teletruks ordered as part of the deal are a mix of diesel and LPG powered three tonne and 3.5 tonne capacity machines. Their ability to reach forwards over obstacles using a telescopic boom give customers around the world major productivity gains in industrial applications.

JCB Industrial General Manager Chris Nowell said: “This is one of the biggest single orders in the UK this year for industrial forklifts and is one of the largest ever deals we’ve done for JCB Teletruks. Many businesses including JCB now rely on the benefits of forwards reach because of the time it saves loading and unloading.”

Barloworld is the largest independent distributor of lift trucks in the world with operations covering the UK, Holland, Belgium, South Africa and the US (South East).

Caption: JCB Industrial General Manager Chris Nowell (second from right) pictured with the Barloworld team (l-r) Mick Davies, Regional Service Manager; Scott Frankham, Regional Sales Manager; Kevin Sharp, Key Accounts Manager and Tony Trow, Field Service Manager.