Selco builds up forklift fleet with Barloworld Handling

Selco, one of the UK's fastest growing builder's merchants, is taking delivery of an additional 25 new Hyster forklift trucks from materials handling specialist Barloworld Handling to cover the needs of its expanding branch network. The new fleet includes Hyster H3.0FT Fortens diesel counterbalance trucks and Hyster R2.0 Matrix electric reach trucks for the handling and storage of a wide range of materials provided through Selco Builders Warehouse outlets. 16 of the new Hyster trucks have been earmarked for new Selco branches.

Chris Cunliffe, Operations Director of Selco cited the reliability of the Hyster trucks as the key factor in choosing this product. "In a business like ours having equipment you can rely on is very important and so far we have found this to be the case with the Hyster machine. Good after-sales service is vital to ensure that we always have our trucks up and running when we need them and Barloworld help us to ensure our customer's demands are met."

Selco has seen rapid growth in recent years and its network of trade-only self select warehouses has grown to 28 outlets with further expansion planned. Each outlet has a consistent layout including a store area of 40,000sq ft, a caf for customers and staff and an additional yard area of half an acre. 

Barloworld Handling has worked with Selco, as its preferred supplier of materials handling equipment, for a number of years and currently supports a total fleet of approximately 120 trucks across the 28 Selco sites. At each site there are two Hyster Fortens H3.0FT counterbalance forklift trucks and two Hyster R2.0 reach trucks. The H3.0FT trucks are used to unload blocks, bagged aggregate, wood and metal for lorries and store it in the yard area before being loaded onto customers vehicles. The trucks are fitted with a bespoke 5500mm two-stage mast that was developed specifically for Selco by Hyster's Special Product Engineering Division (SPED) and provides additional space saving advantages in confined areas.

The unique Duramatch transmission on the Fortens trucks incorporates auto-deceleration (ADS) and controlled power reversal features which helps productivity, and reduces tyre and brake wear by up to 50%. In addition, the trucks are all fitted with a speed de-limiter for added safety.

The reach trucks have a conventional 5500mm triplex mast for use inside the stores where they are used to stock the aisles. All the aisles are a minimum of 3100mm wide to ensure plenty of space for customers handling goods and for the reach trucks to manoeuvre. The most popular feature of the Hyster reach trucks is the cab which has many ergonomic design features such as mini-lever controls that help to reduce driver fatigue.

Barloworld provides full national support for the Selco fleet ensuring that any problems are resolved quickly with minimal downtime. Barloworld's experienced fully equipped technicians visit the trucks periodically to carryout planned maintenance so that they are reliable and work to their full potential.