So this truck (indicates to counterbalance forklift) will work indoors and outdoors; it’s electric powered, so you don’t have any emissions. It’s got nice soft tyres, but it is a three-wheel electric counterbalance truck, which means it’s not really suitable for traversing slopes and things like that, and if the ground gets very rough, you’re better off moving to a four-wheel machine.

Also, if the ground gets very rough, traditional lead-acid batteries don’t like being shaken around. So, you will probably then start to look at an LPG-powered machine, or a diesel-powered machine. There are some changes coming to the regulations surrounding red diesel (https://locators.co.uk/reform-of-red-diesel-entitlement/) so we might see less and less diesel trucks in the UK over – over the coming months and years.

They are – these trucks, the Toyota trucks – are designed and built in Sweden, so they can withstand quite a big range in temperatures and moisture, and things like that, but the main thing is that they are – they’re fitted with a hard-top polyurethane drive and support wheels. So there’s no suspension in them and they are rigid wheels and tyres. If you take them outside on rough ground, the wheels will break up and you will start to get issues with the truck. So, these (the warehouse truck) are designed for internal use. This particular machine is pedestrian operated but even a sit on reach truck will have the same polyurethane or vulcalan wheel compound, not designed to work outdoors.

So, the general concept is: counterbalance trucks – soft rubber tyres – normally solid tyres now, so rather than pneumatic, they are actually filled tyres. Warehouse equipment is the solid – polyurethane – designed to work on a smooth flat floor like this and retains its – you can have a much smaller machine and it will retain its capacity and lift more – higher – because it’s not wobbling around on soft tyres.

So the advantage you probably have with an engine-powered truck is they’re a little bit higher off the ground – a little bit larger, slightly longer wheel base because they don’t have the weight of the battery in them – so they will cope with rougher terrain. This type of truck – we call it a warehouse truck, because they are specifically designed to work internally and inside a warehouse, in the dry.