First port of call

The unit features a lowered chassis, seat and masts, to assist the truck in its primary duties – unloading containers at the Port of Bristol. It is the third Impact-supplied Cat truck to join the company, following a pair of DP45s delivered in 2014 and 2015.

John Cox, director at Avonmouth Shipping, says: “Impact has taken the time to understand the demands of life in the port, and helped us specify a tough truck to match.

“When a container ship docks, it can’t be allowed to stay there long – it needs unloading fast, so the three lining up behind it can have their turn. As such, we need forklifts that can reliably be ready to go as soon as the Captain calls ‘stop engines’ – and Impact supplied just that.”

The DP45 will be in operation six days per week at the Port of Bristol, helping unload 100-200 containers as part of Avonmouth Shipping’s dockside fleet, or moving cargo around the company’s nearby warehouses.

Cox adds: “The Cat trucks are durable, no-nonsense vehicles more than up to the task of unloading hundreds of containers, and our drivers greatly appreciate the trucks’ hard-wearing design and low maintenance requirements.”

Founded in 1983 as a family-run dockside enterprise, Avonmouth Shipping has since expanded into warehousing, storage, dockside labour and stevedoring. The company is also involved in the construction industry.