RÖHLIG LOGISTICS NOTCHES UP 50 YEARS IN AUSTRALIA

When owner-managed transport logistics company Röhlig Logistics notched up 50 years of operation in Australia they celebrated by purchasing a fleet of custom painted Toyota electric forklifts.

The fleet of battery-electric Toyota forklifts were purchased from distributor Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) who added an extra-special touch by having the equipment painted in custom Röhlig blue.

Röhlig Australia Managing Director Mat Vermeulen said the 50-year celebrations would be a great occasion for the company.

TMHA is able to offer custom paint colours to suit any customer’s preference. “Part of the deal with TMHA was to paint the Toyota orange to Röhlig Logistics blue, and we will apply our Röhlig Logistics decals to that and make it part of our 50-year celebrations,” explains Vermeulen.

“We’re about to convert our trucks — we run our own fleet of trucks in the main centres of Australia — and we’re going to convert the curtains to our new 50-year anniversary picture mark.”

Röhlig Logistics recently issued a tender for new material handling equipment, with the emission-free powertrains and dependable performance of Toyota electric forklifts a big reason for TMHA being the company of choice. Vermeulen adds: “We went to market for our MHE, during the start of COVID. Part of the deal was to look at our sustainability as our organisation. We were using a lot of gas forklifts and we have converted to electric forklifts.”

“We wanted to make sure that those on the floor were engaged and part of the process, and they got to choose which gear they preferred, and Toyota was actually a frontrunner there so very happy with the choice.”

The new Röhlig fleet consists of 13 Toyota electric counterbalance forklifts ranging from 2.0 to 5.0-tonne capacity, two Toyota OME120HW order pickers and four Toyota RRE140H2 reach trucks, distributed across warehouses in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. The tender process was spearheaded by Sydney-based major account manager Michael Provan, who said that the combination of TMHA’s servicing, product and value was unmatched among the competition.

The relationship formed between Röhlig Logistics and Mr Provan’s team has also been a determining factor in the high level of satisfaction for the new forklift fleet. “They’ve been very professional, they obviously understand the product very well, they take a lot of pride in what they do,” said Vermeulen.

Röhlig Logistics 50th anniversary celebrations will take place towards the end of the year with events in each state that it operates. It will also honour long-standing employees and commercial partners of the company. The company has transformed its fleet of trucks with Röhlig Logistics blue liveries, and will mark the occasion with a series of media events.