Toyota Material Handling UK has donated a second forklift truck to the charity Transaidto support their Professional Driver Training Project (PDTP) in Africa. Transaid is an international development charity that identifies, implements and shares local transport solutions to improve access to basic services and economic opportunity.
Toyota donated the first forklift truck in 2009 as part of a joint venture with Norbert Dentressangle Logistics (NDL) UK. Toyota provided a 2.5-tonne counterbalance forklift to Transaid, while NDL arranged for one of its own forklift truck trainers to provide onsite training in Transaid's project partner Industrial Training Centre (ITC) in Zambia.
Professional Driver Training Project promotes professional driver training standards and develops driver training programmes to improve driver competence, road safety and the efficient use of vehicles.
Toyota has been supporting Transaid's activities since 2009 and has welcomed updates on the trucks progress and the impact it is having in relation to safety. The second 2.5 tonne forklift truck donated earlier this year will be used to improve safety by the National Institute of Transport (NIT) in Tanzania.
Neil Rettie, Project Manager for Road Safety at Transaid explains "I was part of the original team implementing PDTP in Zambia and will be implementing the forklift training in Tanzania. I know the great impact this donation of a truck will have. When I visited Industrial Training Centre (ITC) back in August I found the forklift in full use. One company wanted as many as 50 operators trained. The value of the donated forklift truck is huge and is having a massive impact on safe loading and transportation of goods in Zambia. We are extremely grateful to Toyota Material Handling UK for the donation of the second forklift to our partner in Tanzania as this will improve safety in the transport sector in this country".
Transaid was founded by Save the Children and The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) in 1998. Toyota was delighted to attend the organisation's 15th anniversary celebration in October this year. The celebration took place at Buckingham Palace and was hosted by the charity's patron Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.
Tony Wallis, Sales and Marketing Director explains "Showing continual support for Transaid is very important to Toyota. Safety is a large part of our culture and the focus of our Taking Care with Toyota campaign. We know that having access to a safe forklift truck combined with expert training will help improve safety. The ability to move goods safely and effectively helps communities and regions to develop and Toyota are proud to support such efforts. We intend to keep promoting safety with the charity and will send regular safety resources to be used as a visual reminder once their training is complete."
The truck has been donated from Toyota's used equipment fleet. All the trucks within this fleet are Toyota ex-rental trucks and have therefore have been maintained by Toyota from new. This means the trucks are fully inspected and serviced by Toyota trained technicians using genuine Toyota forklift parts.
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