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In October 2010, HOPPECKE’s many years of cooperation with ELMAS (Motive Power) in Romania was consolidated through an official distributorship agreement.

"Easy going" over the last kilometer.

Linde Material Handling is bringing its revolutionary CiTi Truck into market in June 2010 - a truck that makes light work of delivering goods over the last kilometer. With a minimum of exertion, the operator can move loads of up to 500 kilograms over consider-able distances and manoeuvre in the tightest spaces with com-fort and safety.

The futuristic Linde CiTi Truck introduces a new model classification between hand pallet trucks and electric pallet trucks. It offers a superbly innovative solution to the growing numbers of deliveries direct to city centres. Traffic routing, narrow streets and obstructions caused by parking spaces or kerbs hinder the delivery of supplies to businesses, restaurants, workshops and supermarkets. Hand pallet trucks, which make significant physical demands on the operator, are usually employed for the final stages of delivery.

To transfer the goods from the delivery lorry to their destination, the operator must first raise the forks by repeatedly "pumping" the tiller. The Linde CiTi Truck eliminates the manual effort and makes light work of these demanding tasks. The compact Linde CiTi Truck is suitable for both smaller consignments and palletised loads of up to 500 kilograms. The CiTi Truck effortlessly negotiates obstacles such as kerbs or verges of up to 70 mm high. This is due to the unique and innovative wheels, which are designed specifically for this purpose. The large, rubber tyred drive wheel and the two pivot-mounted rear load wheels enables the CiTi Truck to travel over obstacles. In addition, the wheels and rollers minimise noise, a real plus for residents when making early morning deliveries to city centres.

Thanks to the lift motor ramps with gradients of up to 8 percent can also be negotiated with ease. The motor is powered by a 36-volt, max. 15-amp nickel metal hydride battery, which is rated for up to two hours of continuous operation. The truck is controlled by the "easyControl" two-way roll pad, which is integrated into the tiller head. The travel direction, lift/lower buttons and horn, are ergonomically grouped for ease of use. The electromagnetic brake, which is activated as soon as the tiller is released, enhances safety on loading ramps and gradients.

The Linde CiTi Truck is the ideal solution for general deliveries and parcel services.
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As the first industrial truck manufacturer in Europe, Linde MH has incorporated fuel cell trucks into its product range. The trucks are now offered as standard and with immediate effect, as a "Customised Option". Both fuel-cell trucks delivered to the Linde Gas Division are based on the 3-tonne electric counterbalanced truck, the Linde E30. The electricity generated from the hydrogen supplies the electric motors that drive the truck. Alongside this are so-called supercaps, large condensers, which act as a buffer and cover performance peaks, such as pulling away or lifting, for example. The trucks bear the CE mark and are permitted for use on public roads.

The fuel-cell trucks were developed over the last two years with long-term partner, Hydrogenics, the Canadian fuel cell manufacturer. Filling up the fuel-cell trucks is quick and safe at the Linde hydrogen centre filling pump and is therefore comparable to filling a conventional truck.

The benefit of the fuel-cell drive for Linde Gas is the "zero emissions" that these trucks produce when used. The only waste product from the splitting of hydrogen molecules is pure water. Another benefit of fuel cells, in comparison to other drive concepts, is that there is no longer a requirement for battery replacement or a battery charging process lasting a number of hours. In the same way, the safety risks relating to the use of battery acid are removed.

For many companies, order picking is a vital link in the logistics chain. The new "N20Vi/V08" order pickers, represent new steps towards higher realms. They are targeted at applications requiring picking not only at floor level, but also higher up. With a picking height of up to 2.80 metres, they represent the entry-level of the "man-up " picking segment.

With the Linde N20Vi, only the operator’s platform elevates whereas with the V08 the forks lift as well. This allows a V08 operator to put picked cases directly onto the pallet when picking above ground level. With the N20Vi on the other hand, the operator has to descend to floor level before he can deposit his picked goods on the pallet, although he has a shelf to put the cases on temporarily until he has finished picking at that location.

Thanks to its initial lift and long forks, the N20Vi can handle two pallets with a total weight of up to two tonnes at the same time. Both the N20Vi and the V08 allow the pallet to be raised and lowered to obtain the ideal ergonomic height. This is important not only to provide access to different picking zones, but also to successfully master different picking tasks.

New lift truck productivity test certified by TÜV makes productivity an objective criterion for decision-making. Higher productivity, lower costs.

In difficult economic times, each decision to invest is examined even more carefully. By achieving TÜV certification for the lift truck productivity test, Linde Material Handling has succeeded in establishing an independently verifiable performance factor (productivity over time) as a basis for cost analysis, and therefore as an objective decision-making parameter. This provides operators with the chance to take the productivity of a truck into account when calculating staffing, purchasing, financing, service and energy costs, and therefore to ultimately calculate the actual costs.

When it comes to purchasing new industrial trucks, most investment decisions are based on purchasing, energy consumption, service and financing costs taken from type sheets and written quotations. The productivity of a truck over a certain period of time is not taken into account. The time a truck needs to carry out a certain task when transferring goods internally has a very significant effect on the individual costs. For example, if a truck works faster, the driver could be busy doing other jobs in the time "saved". The reduced number of total operating hours increases staff efficiency and also reduces energy and service costs as well as mainte-nance work. Reduced operating hours are ultimately reflected in a higher residual value. Taking productivity into account when calculating expenses in industrial trucks is known at Linde as T.O.P.: "Total Operating Performance".

Due to the significance of truck productivity in the calculation of actual truck costs, Linde Material Handling decided to work in cooperation with a recognised partner to develop and seek certification for an objective forklift truck performance test derived from typical practical ap-plications in industry and trade. That recognised partner was TÜV Nord Mobilität GmbH & Co. KG, and by issuing certificate, it attested that the productivity over time and the energy consumption for forklift trucks can be calculated under realistic operat-ing conditions using the "lift truck productivity test".