A mobile dock lift from Transdek UK is helping the United Co-op’s Talke regional distribution centre in Staffordshire to recycle more of the waste packing materials generated by its 580 stores.

As part of the Co-op’s commitment to increase recycling, large quantities of waste cardboard is delivered to the Talke RDC in roll cages every day. Vehicles had previously been unloaded in the yard by tail-lift, but this method was slow and tied up drivers for too long.

Transdek was commissioned to install a dock lift that could handle the cages more quickly and could also be moved to allow access between the warehouse and the yard. This requirement was met by fitting retractable wheels to each corner of the lift chassis.

The dock lift enables a single warehouse operative to unload a vehicle in five minutes, according to Paul Cross, the United Co-op’s general manager for logistics, who commented, ‘Transdek’s equipment has enabled us to reduce labour costs by freeing up our drivers more quickly. This solution has also retained the main level access into the warehouse’.

The Transdek equipment required no civil engineering work, unlike conventional pit-mounted lifts, and was installed and ready to use in just two hours. It has a safe working load of 4500kg and can carry 12 roll-cages on its 3500mm long x 2450mm wide platform. A bridging plate automatically adjusts for different vehicle floor heights between 1050mm and 1400mm, including powered double-deck trailers.