Bunkabin is the UK's leading supplier of on-site facility units. The company's Bunkabin range includes various purpose-built sleeping accommodation cabins as well as toilet and shower facilities which are hired to a wide range of customers from events organisers to construction sites.

The cabins are built at Bunkabins' purpose built factory in the north west and hire stock is held at a 10 acre yard at the same site. Another open storage facility near Luton offers additional space and serves customers south of the midlands.

With dimensions similar to a typical cargo container and weighing some two tonnes, the cabins are made from steel which is laminate coated to ensure a smart exterior finish. They are designed to be handled by lift truck and feature 'pockets' near their base into which a lift truck's forks can slide.

Unfortunately, if the forklift truck operators do not show sufficient care when handling the cabins, the walls can be dented and the laminate coating scratched, leaving the units looking tired and in need of repair within a short space of time.

"Our cabins are delivered directly to a customer's site by wagon and are loaded on to vehicles by a fleet of Nissan counterbalanced forklifts," explains the company's Transport Manager, Andy Seddon

'We had a problem with damage caused by the lift trucks as they handled cabins around our site and loaded them on to trailers. The damage done is only cosmetic - dents and scratches in the steel do not affect the structural stability of the cabins -but the scratches look unsightly and the units have to go back to the factory to be made good before they can be re-hired."

Bunkabin have, in Andy Seddon's words, "all but eliminated" the damage problem by fitting Jayline Products' innovative load cushions to the carriages of their lift trucks.

Made in the UK from heavy duty moulded rubber, the Patented load cushions fit to the rear face of a forklift truck's forks and provide a protective barrier between the load and the forks. At Bunkabin, the cushions prevent the cabins from hitting the forks or the fork carriage with sufficient force to cause any dents or scratches to the exterior of the units.

"We are delighted with the results and the return on our investment - which was only a few hundred pounds - was almost instant," says Andy Seddon.

"Apart from the expense of having to put the cabins back in to the factory to repair damage which was caused by ourselves, we risk upsetting our customers if a unit arrives at a client's site already showing signs of wear and tear. Since fitting the Jayline load cushions the number of repairs has fallen noticeably and customer satisfaction has increased."

Available in a choice of sizes to fit 4" (105mm), 5" (130mm), 6" (160mm) and 8" (200mm) forks, the Jayline load cushions are suitable for use with a wide range of materials handling equipment, including counterbalanced and warehouse trucks. They come in a choice of sizes to fit 4" (105mm), 5" (130mm), 6" (160mm) and 8" (200mm) forks and are quickly fitted using a simple yet robust strapping system.