Not All Handling Equipment Moves Conventional Freight but it All Works in the Logistics Sector

US – UK – Not all handling equipment is built to work in docks and container freight terminals but all are certainly logistics related. Now equipment manufacturer JCB has started 2017 with a bang by winning one of the biggest single orders in its 71-year history, a $142 million (£117 million / € 134.5 million) contract to supply the United States Army with 1,600, 527-58M rough terrain forklifts. The vehicles will be used to support US military operations around the world loading and unloading aircraft and shipping containers. JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said:

“This order is fantastic news for JCB and a great way to start the New Year. It is the second-highest-value order in the company’s history, and I congratulate everyone who has worked to secure this valuable contract in the same year that we mark 40 years of telescopic handler production.”

The largest single deal in JCB’s history also came from the US Army in 2005 when a $206 million order was placed to produce hundreds of high-speed military versions of JCB’s famous backhoe loader. That machine, the High Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE), is capable of speeds of up to 60 mph and went on to be sold to allied forces around the world, including the UK, Sweden, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

Like the HMEE, the new 527-58M light-capability rough-terrain forklifts will be produced at JCB’s North American Headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. They will be powered by the 84hp (63kW) JCB DieselMax engine produced at JCB Power Systems in Derbyshire, UK. Arjun Mirdha, CEO and President of JCB North America, said:

“We are proud that the US Army has once again chosen JCB and its Savannah-based manufacturing facility to produce an extraordinary piece of specialised equipment. Over the past three decades, JCB has supplied more than 4,000 machines to armed forces in 57 countries, and we have acquired a deep understanding of how the Army uses equipment and the unique features needed.”