Gregory Distribution is to invest £100,000 in electric pallet trucks to improve health and safety at its sites in Shepton, Mallet, Cullompton, Willand and Plymouth.
The equipment will be available to all pallet delivery drivers and will make manoeuvring heavy pallets safer and easier.
Gregory operations and business culture director, Darren Beaven said: “We have closely followed the responsible debate on pallet weights of 750kg and over on tail lifts and decided to trial some semi-electric pallet trucks to improve the safety aspect of moving them around. After some intensive trials we eventually found equipment that was fit for purpose. The decision to make the investment was entirely health and safety driven. It was not made because we had to but because we think it is the right thing to do. Our drivers can now move up to a ton of palletised goods safely and securely.”
Customers have also been impressed by the new pallet trucks, which have speeded up their delivery times and saved having to manually move delivery items.
Fred Lawson, a Gregory customer, said: “I was pleased to see that our last pallet delivery used an electric pallet truck. Until now, we have unloaded the pallet in the road and carried the bags by hand to the store. Now it will save us a lot of time and effort.”
