New container handlers delivered to Durban depot

ALAN PEAT THE PORT and associated industries have always been an important market niche for forklift, handler and stacker supplier, Saficon Industrial Equipment, which also trades under the brand name of Toyota Forklift. This specialist part of the Imperial group has just delivered two new Kalmar container handlers to the new Bridgeport RRL cargo and container depot facility in Durban – the owning company being a black economic empowerment (BEE) venture combining Rail Road Logistics and the Bridge group. The 120 000m2, customs-licensed depot in Durban’s Bayhead terminal offers 24 000m2 of bonded and free-store warehousing and has a storage capacity for 9 000-teus, including 60 reefer plug points. Feeding its rail access, the site has space for three block trains of containerised traffic and 30 wagons of break-bulk cargo. The new Kalmar machines were one of the mighty 45 ton DRF450 five-high reach stackers and a DCE90-45 seven-high empty container handler. The depot now employs five Kalmar units, two reach stackers and three empty container handlers – and the total number in the Bridge group in Southern Africa is 11, with another three units on order for delivery this year. Saficon is Kalmar’s Southern African distributor, backing the products with its workshop facilities in the heart of the Bayhead – and its eight Kalmar-trained service engineers offering 24/7 technical support.