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Pallet Trucks UK has applauded the compassionate spirit of freight workers after they joined forces to deliver goods to Children in Need’s CarFest charity events. The drivers banded together to deliver 27 pallets of stock to CarFest North in Bolesworth Castle, Cheshire and CarFest South at Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire.

The CarFest events are weekend festivals that have raised a whopping £7.4m for Children in Need since they began, with this year’s festivals playing host to a range of big-name music stars such including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Busted, Manic Street Preachers and Rick Astley.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “It’s fantastic and heart-warming to see workers across our industry taking time out of their own lives to help Children in Need.

“I’m aware that workers from multiple different firms teamed up together to form a transport link and delivered stock to both the CarFest festival in the north of the country as well as the southern event in Hampshire. From the pictures on the CarFest website it looks like everyone had a brilliant time!”

Companies involved in the charity efforts include Somerset-based logistics firm Just Vans Ltd, KRL from Telford, Newtonabbey-based Montgomery Transport and Andover-based AET Transport. This is the third consecutive year that the firms have got involved with helping to provide goods for CarFest.

CarFest’s event organisers called upon the firms to collect 27 pallets of stock and deliver them to their event showgrounds in order to ensure the festivals lived up to their reputation of being a fun-filled weekend packed with an array of attractions. The freight workers took up the call with gusto and delivered 15 pallets to CarFest North and 12 pallets to CarFest South, with the pallets also being collected and taken back to warehouses after the festivals had ended. Naturally, this was all done completely free of charge.

Phil added: “Children in Need is a brilliant charity and has changed the lives of thousands of young and disabled people since it was created; a huge well done to everyone involved with this year’s CarFest festivals and Children in Need.”

Children in Need is an iconic and well-known UK charity owned by the BBC that has raised over £600m for disabled children and young people in the UK. The charity holds an annual telethon every year to raise money for its cause, with the 2017 event scheduled to be broadcast later this year on November 17, 2017.

Pallet Trucks UK provides a vast range of manual handling equipment to the logistics industry including moving skates, heavy duty and galvanized steel pallet trucks, forklift fork extensions and lift tables.

Pallet Trucks UK has paid tribute to the industrial spirit of workers in Britain after the manufacturing and industrial sectors smashed expectations in August, causing the pound to rise in value.

Figures recently released in October show that total production output in the industrial sector was 1.6 per cent higher in August than a year before, beating expectations of a 0.8 per cent increase. Output in manufacturing, which is the largest portion of the industrial production figure, also defied the odds with an increase of 2.8% against a forecast of 1.9%.

This caused sterling’s value to increase by 0.3 per cent against the dollar to $1.3184 as well as edging 0.01 per cent higher against the euro to €1.1193.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “Seeing the value of the pound climb thanks to the vital work of everyone involved in the manufacturing and industrial sectors is brilliant news for both the industries themselves and the country as a whole.

“The task now for us is to carry on as we have done and build on the brilliant progress we’ve made to ensure a vibrant and prosperous future for manufacturing in the UK.”

News of the increase in the pound’s value thanks to the manufacturing and industrial sectors follows on from encouraging data from September, which showed the UK’s manufacturing industry recording its first “significant” month of growth this year in July. July saw a production expansion of 0.5% driven by a sharp 13.7% increase in car production, which was the fastest rise recorded in official data on the car industry since March 2009.

Phil added: “There seems to be an upward trend of manufacturing and industrial productivity in the UK since July, and hopefully we can carry on in the same vein up until Christmas and into the new year.”

The construction industry also defied expectations, albeit to a lesser degree, after it saw 0.6% month-on-month in August 2017 against predictions of 0% growth, with the surprise rise growth being predominantly driven by a 1.7% rise in all new work.

Pallet Trucks UK supplies a wide array of manual handling equipment to the construction industry, including equipment such as forklift extensions and hydraulic jacks used to lift weights of 25 tonnes.

Many of the company’s wares are also used in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, with pallet trucks being vital in ensuring continued product outflow at factories and moving skates used being used to move weights of up to 80 tonnes safely and securely.

Leading manual handing equipment retailer, Pallet Trucks UK has added an entire new product range of hydraulic jacks to its already enormous catalogue.

A wide array of different hydraulic jacks ranging from machines with 3t capacities to jacks with 25t capabilities is now available on the Pallet Truck UK website. The new additions provide hydraulic lifting equipment for all purposes, with the product arrivals coming just as businesses up and down the country gear up to end the year on a high.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Truck UK’s Managing Director, said: “We’re pleased to announce that we’ve added a brand-new product line of superb quality hydraulic jacks to our existing range. This gives us a really broad mix of models and extensive choice, with a solution to suit virtually any lifting application.”

The new range includes budget jacks with 3t capacities and super-low lifting toes at one end of the scale, extending all the way up to heavy-duty, industrial-strength 25t jacks made with heat-treated steel and electrically-welded bases and cylinders for added strength.

Hydraulic jacks are used to lift extremely heavy loads and are used by many trades for a variety of uses across the UK, including lifting cars and vehicles for repairs, the installation of heavy machinery, shipbuilding and bridge building.

Hydraulic jacks work by applying pressure through the handle to the small cylinder which is connected to a larger cylinder. This pressure, when transferred to a larger cylinder with a larger area, generates increased force and is therefore able to lift extremely heavy weights.

The expanded Pallet Truck UK’s range now offers a huge choice of series and models including the MHC range of heavy-duty, industrial strength jacks, the HM range of manual hydraulic jacks and the TB Toe Jack series.

The new range of hydraulic jacks includes industry-standard features such as safety values for overload protection, resistance to extreme temperatures and removable pump levels.

The hydraulic jacks can be paired with Pallet Trucks UK’s moving skates, which can be placed under a heavy load once it’s been lifted. The load is then lowered down onto the skates for easy transportation.

Pallet Trucks UK has urged workers in transport and warehousing to remain vigilant after the two industries were named as being common for exploitation.

Modern slavery is a horrific practice which is currently rife in the UK, with victims of modern slavery being trafficked into Britain and forced to work long hours in return for very little pay, with most of the victim’s wages being passed on to the traffickers.

Independent law enforcement charity Crimestoppers has joined forces with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) in an effort to stop the growing issue with its ‘Spot the Signs’ initiative, which is designed to help people spot the symptoms of people who may be victims of exploitation.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “It’s terrible that such a disgusting practice is going on in the UK, often right under our noses. Victims of the practice may repeatedly come into work bearing injuries because of the abuse they endure, and tend to have inappropriate clothing or safety equipment for the job they’re doing as they can’t buy it themselves.

“With warehousing and transport being industries we’re very much involved in, I’d like to urge anyone who thinks that someone they work with might be being exploited in this cruel manner to contact Crimestoppers immediately.”

Victims of modern slavery are often kept in packed accommodation with other victims to create larger profits for traffickers, and many tend to be malnourished or underweight due to them not being allowed to buy their own food.

Further signs of exploitation include workers wearing the same clothes, being unhygienic and being collected and dropped off from work early in the morning or late at night. Victims of modern slavery may also appear to be scared of talking and hesitant to make eye contact, as well as having little or no identification or documentation.

Phil added: “Many victims of modern slavery come from eastern-European countries and have a bias towards industries which require manual labourers, which is why warehousing and transport jobs have been named as being common areas for exploitation.”

The National Crime Agency predicted last month that modern slavery is likely ‘in the tens of thousands’ in the UK, a shocking figure considering that the number was said to be around 3,600 by the UK Government in 2016.

Modern slavery also commonly forces victims of human trafficking and migrant workers to work in prostitution, drug smuggling, manufacturing, car washing and agriculture as well as transport and warehousing.

Pallet Trucks UK produces a range of long-lasting, high quality products which are widely used in the UK transport and warehousing industries such as pallet trucks, stackers and forklift trucks.

The UK-based company also sells products such as moving skates, platform lifts, lift tables, sack trucks and drum loaders, and as a result often does sells its wares to workers and businesses in the construction industry.

Pallet Trucks UK has urged firms using forklift drivers to ensure the safety of their workers, after two businesses were recently fined hundreds of thousands of pounds for the heart-breaking deaths of two of their employees.

Derbyshire-based firm Vinyl Compound Ltd was fined £450,000 earlier this month after 19-year old forklift driver Ben Pallier-Singleton was tragically crushed to death in 2015.

A £300,000 fine was also levelled at Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres Ltd in Grantham this month after forklift driver Stephen Woollas was killed October 2014, leaving behind a daughter.

Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Pallet Trucks UK, said: “The fact that the deaths of these two employees could have been avoided by enforcing proper safety regulations makes them even more terrible for everyone involved, and should serve as a reminder to all firms using forklifts to enforce proper safety procedures.

“A young man with his life ahead of him and a father with a child has died because of a lack of care to worker safety. These enormous fines, £450,000 and £300,000 respectively, will have a detrimental effect on the two companies; I urge any business using a forklift or who buys our forklift products to consider their procedures and training.”

19-year old Singleton was found to have not been wearing a seatbelt at the time of his death, hadn’t been told about the on-site speed limits and hadn’t been trained properly to use a forklift.

Mr Woollas died because the requirement for him to reverse his forklift in wasn’t enforced, and as a result of this he drove over a tyre which toppled his forklift and crushed him to death.

Phil added: “Aside from procedure and training, it’s also vital that drivers are equipped with the right length of fork extensions for the job; lifting a load weighing multiple tonnes with forks that are too short could also result in the vehicle and the load toppling over.”

Pallet Trucks UK offers a wide variety of forklift truck extensions in different lengths to ensure a safe lift for the forklift driver and those working in the vicinity. All forklift extensions purchased through Pallet Trucks UK are made with high-grade, hardwearing materials that further guarantee worker safety.

In addition to forklift extensions, Pallet Trucks UK also stocks a huge array of pallet trucks, stackers, lift tables, sack trucks and a host of materials handling equipment available at affordable prices.

Pallet Trucks UK, one of the UK’s leading manual handling equipment providers, has warned warehouses over the UK that Brexit could lead to a shortage of staff in the period leading up to Christmas.

“The pound has fallen lower and lower against the Euro, and overseas workers simply don’t want to work in the UK anymore,” said Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Pallet Trucks UK. “Plenty of temporary warehouse staff that are taken on for the Christmas rush are from overseas, and a lack of workers could mean that Christmas this year grinds to a halt.”

Last year, 73% of customers bought online for the Christmas season. All those orders had to be picked, packaged, and sent out; naturally, the rate of returns was also higher, and those items had to be sorted through too.

It seems that every year Christmas sales increase online, and with fewer workers brands and warehouses will find it difficult to get everything packed on time. No brand wants to be accused by an angry customer of “ruining” their Christmas, but at an emotionally fraught and busy time, mistakes are made. There’s the chance this year that the mistakes will be more and more common, leading to angry customers and plunging profits.

“Warehouses have the chance to put a plan into action now about how they will deal with staff shortages, before their competitors do,” added Phil Chesworth. “They could offer more benefits, extra training, or more guaranteed jobs after Christmas, but those who don’t do anything will feel the strain.”

With the news that prime rents for warehouses in Scotland have jumped three times faster, year on year, than the rest of the UK[1], Pallet Trucks UK have warned that the problem won’t go away without help.

“Space in Scotland may be cheaper than space in England at the UK,” said Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Pallet Trucks UK. “But it’s still growing faster than England’s, and the risk is that people will start losing staff because they can’t afford to keep them as well as the storage space—which will mean slower picking—and fewer sales.”

The Glasgow area is the place that people are most concerned about, because it’s losing out on space to accommodate manufacturing growth as well as the ever-expanding retail delivery and distribution factions.

Focusing on growing the business means spending more, which will ironically mean that firms will have less money to spend on hardware for the warehouses—such as pallet trucks—as well as stock, and workers to pick the stock.

If the trend picks up in England to the same extent, it’s possible that demand for warehouse space will drop off when it gets too high—and some warehouses with plenty of storage space will stand empty as no company wants to pay that much for space.

“Rents rising too sharply is never a good thing for anyone except the landlord,” added Phil Chesworth. “New warehouse space needs to be built and made affordable, or companies will find themselves entirely priced out of their specialist area.”

[1] http://www.shdlogistics.com/news/warehouse-rental-space-demand-in-scotland-soars

With a fire striking a huge warehouse in Bradford[1], causing 15 crews to battle the blaze, Pallet Trucks UK has called for warehouse owners and managers to carry out regular fire safety tests to ensure their premises meet safety standards.

“Not only did the fire crews have to fight the flames till dawn, they were also attempting to stop the surrounding areas from catching fire too. It’s a good chance to remind all warehouse owners that fire safety is crucial, especially in the warmer months where things are drier,” said Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Pallet Trucks UK.

As one of the UK’s leading names in manual handling equipment, Pallet Trucks UK sells analogue and electrical equipment for use in warehouses. Although it’s not yet known how the fire started, Pallet Trucks UK recommends managers, owners and workers all have a responsibility to assess if any equipment is still fit for purpose before using it.

“It can be tempting to use older equipment if something new needs mending,” adds Phil Chesworth. “However, in those cases workers are much better going for something manual instead of electric while the problem is investigated.”

Fire safety checks are mandated by the government for all kinds of businesses, and fire fighting equipment should also be present. Regular fire checks combine working with fire alarm systems as well making sure emergency lighting is working and any faults are recorded and reported. Fire drills are also important so workers are not hurt leaving the building in case of a real fire.

[1] http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/fire-fighters-across-west-yorkshire-13456666

In light of recent events including a Kent warehouse being used for an illegal rave[1], Pallet Trucks UK, one of the UK’s leading names in manual handling equipment, has warned warehouse operatives to keep an eye on their security.

“Warehouses are big buildings, and with wide open spaces and equipment that can lift people high in the air, they can seem perfect for partiers,” said Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Pallet Trucks UK. “However, these raves are illegal, and unlicensed use of warehouse equipment can be dangerous.”

Illegal raves can often be a headache for warehouse owners, who are frequently left with large bills after damage is caused by partiers and who can even have stock and equipment stolen during the party.

Warehouse equipment such as pallet trucks are good value for money for all the work they do but expensive and time-consuming to replace, as warehouse workers often rely on the exact number of pallet trucks within a warehouse fleet for their work.

Pallet Trucks UK recommend having secure lock-ups for expensive warehouse equipment such as electric static lift tables, and improving security on warehouse entrances, as well as installing and using decent intruder alarms and sensor-based spotlights.

“Unfortunately, warehouses will always be attractive spots to hold illegal parties,” added Phil Chesworth. “But warehouse owners and workers can make them much less inviting by adding in tough security to get past and making sure that any equipment that could be stolen or damaged is locked away.”

[1] http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/07/ravers-filmed-running-away-after-police-break-up-illegal-warehouse-party-6833785/?preview_id=6833785

With the news that Amazon have filed a patent for underwater warehouses[1], Pallet Trucks UK, one of the leading names in manual handling equipment, has warned workers not to neglect the current state of the warehousing market in favour of an uncertain future.

“Towards the end of last year, Amazon said they would deploy airships as warehouses,” said Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Pallet Trucks UK. “While that may become a reality in a number of years, there are so many things to consider than the design of the ship or how an underwater warehouse would work.”

The dangers and potential mistakes inherent in having airships positioned above prominent cities, or dropping items into pools of water, are apparent, but they are typically ignored when reported on because of Amazon’s contributions to the warehousing industry.

Warehousing must not get carried away by a potential future when it has so much going on in the present; workers are still the backbone of logistics, and while airships and pools theoretically sound like good ideas, there is always the chance that they will break. If humans are discounted from the process entirely, there is a good chance that the mistake will not be noticed for some time.

The present of the warehousing industry lies in good workers and good tools which are up to the job, and not in a potential future that discounts workers entirely.

“Employers have to ensure that they treat their workers with the same respect with which they treat potential Amazon products,” added Phil Chesworth.

[1] https://www.dezeen.com/2017/07/10/amazon-files-patent-underwater-warehouses/