Interface

16 Autumn/Winter 2021 INDUSTRY NEWS A port operator is using a fleet of JCB Teletruks to handle millions of items of luggage as the cruise industry launches its post pandemic recovery. At its Port of Southampton base, Solent Stevedores run a fleet of 16 JCB Teletruk models. Operating from five cruise terminals, catering for 400 cruise calls each year, the machines are used to load 2.8 million items of luggage and 120,000 tonnes of stores over the course of the cruise season. Established in 2000, Solent Stevedores is a multi-award-winning private specialist port terminal operator providing a diverse range of terminal services with expertise in rail, cruise ships, fresh produce and bulk cargo handling - working throughout the UK, Channel Islands, France and Singapore. Cruise Manager at Solent Stevedores, Perry Dack, said: “As the cruise industry ramps back up following the pandemic, this fleet will play a key role. With thousands of items of luggage and stores to off load and load onto a cruise ship in a very tight timeframe, we needed equipment that would be versatile, efficient and with a heavy lifting capacity.” “The Teletruk model provides excellent performance for our needs, a comfortable drive with elevated seat position giving our teams good visibility of the quayside and any potential obstacles.” The JCB Teletruk range is claimed to dramatically improve safety, while saving time, space and money. It has been designed to offer a materials solution across a range of sectors including logistics, construction, waste and agriculture. SUPPORT FOR PORT OPERATOR’S PANDEMIC RECOVERY PLAN A piece of JCB history was due to go under the auctioneer’s hammer at the time of Interface going to press, as the company’s fleet of ERF trucks is retired – after travelling the equivalent of almost 600 times around the world. The distinctive JCB-liveried lorries have been a familiar sight on the roads for the past 15 years transporting parts between JCB factories and taking JCB machines to UK events. In that time the 17 ERF EC-11 models have notched up a combined 15 million miles – enough to travel round the earth around 600 times. Now the fleet has taken its final bow and was being sold at the JCB Auction at Wardlow Quarry near to Cauldon Lowe, Staffordshire. JCB Transport and Global Auctions Manager Phil Pepper said: “The sale will bring the curtain down on a long association with British-built ERFs, an association with goes back to 1965 when we first used the manufacturer’s trucks. These particular 17 ERFs were bought second hand in 2006 because we wanted to stay loyal to a British-manufactured truck renowned for its quality. The fleet has rewarded our faith in British engineering by the bucket load and it is amazing to think it has travelled a combined 15 million miles.” The trucks were manufactured 35 miles away from JCB’s World HQ in Rocester at ERF’s plant in Sandbach, Cheshire. At one time one of the JCB ERF trucks was moving 1,200 tonnes of machines and parts per day between factories. The auction also included vintage JCB diggers from the 1960s and 1970s as well as a number of modern day machines. HISTORY UNDER THE HAMMER Phil Pepper, John Morton, Carole Ball, Mark Chatfield, Dustine Poole, Ray Tilley, Andrew Corbett, David Pountain and Darren Carter.