A potato processing plant in
Shropshire has slashed both
its carbon footprint and its
fuel bills, after switching to
LPG-powered forklift trucks
from Jofson Mitsubishi.

ER Birch & Sons considered
several options when looking
for forklift trucks, aiming to
cut emissions and costs
without compromising
performance to load and
unload huge, 1t boxes of
potatoes for sorting, grading
and storage at heights to 6m.

The fleet of five Grendia
FG30N2 trucks combine fuel
economy and reliability with
flexible rental terms. The
company says the LPG trucks
offer cleaner, quieter
performance than diesel in a
food-handling environment
where much of the work is
done indoors and that LPG is
significantly more friendly to
the wider environment,
producing about half the total
greenhouse gases of diesel
(1.7kg/L compared with
3.2kg).

ER Birch has five new 3t
LPG trucks on site. Operators
have been impressed by their
ability to handle 11 and 12h
shifts, performing shuttle and
long run work in challenging
agricultural conditions.

The Grendia’s standardissue
belly plate and enclosed
wheel arches afford ample
protection in the plant’s
muddy, rugged surroundings,
while custom LED spotlights
on the mast enable safe
performance at height in the
pitch-black storehouses.

Mitsubishi’s fuel injection
system with three-way, closedloop
catalytic converter and
switchable engine performance
ensures trucks deliver realworld
fuel consumption to
match published economy
figures.