Materials handling and storage were among the first elements of the timber business to see investment deferred when recession hit in 2008.

Suppliers report that this is changing and business for some is returning to pre- 2008 levels as pent up demand for vehicle replacement and wholesale investments in operational efficiency have given a healthy look to order books.

And what the customer wants is more robust, capable, efficient vehicles able to handle heavier loads in closer spaces and to lift higher, and all at the best price and lowest running costs. New vehicles have been developed to meet the need and more are due to be shown later this year.

Lift truck specialist Combilift saw substantial growth in demand from UK timber and builders merchants in 2014 due to a relaxation in capital spending curbs. The company predicts continuing growth in 2015, with output hitting 4,000 units, up from 3,440 last year.

"I think we saw deferred investment coming through last year, with the merchant business buoyed by the general economic improvement and particularly the construction upturn," said Combilift CEO Martin McVicar.

"The vibes were very positive – in fact we doubled sales into the sector over the year. And in January we saw that growth continue, with new orders from some well-known names."

Valmar Handling, the Lanarkshire-based sideloader specialist, has seen slow growth in timber, but is enthusiastic about the sector.

"It has been slow these past years and we have been concentrating on steel and cement – we are also shipping to the Czech Republic – but we would love timber to pick up," said business development manager Clare Park. "Our products are suited to the industry’s needs."

Bulmor Lancer delivered a new fleet of sideloader trucks to the Hull operation of timber importing group James E. Smith (Northern) Ltd in January while Doosan Industrial Vehicle UK has won orders to supply Jewson builders’ merchants and Huws Gray building material centres. Last month it handed over the keys to the first tranche of 30-plus of its latest G2-powered forklift trucks to Metsa Wood at its site in Widnes, Cheshire.

"Timber is very important to us and is one of our key sectors," said Doosan UK general sales manager Paul Watson.

"Business is booming for us here at the moment because we have the trucks that fit this market. Our diesel 2.5 tonne to 5.0 tonne trucks are very popular in the timber sector.

These are heavy duty and robust, built with much more metal than plastic, and clean and green thanks to our DPF-free G2 engine."

One of the company’s major developments has been the G2 engine, which complies with the new diesel engine emissions regulations, Euro-Stage IIIB (for engines over 37kW) and Euro-Stage IV (over 55kW) without compromising on power or needing a diesel particulate filter (DPF).

"This makes G2 the only range of DPF-free engines on the market that meet the new regulations. Being DPF-free has a number of advantages. Over time soot builds up, meaning the DPF needs to be either replaced or recharged at alarmingly regular intervals, which means downtime when the truck cannot be used. DPF-free also means better fuel consumption," he said.

The new generation low emission Deutz 3.6 ltr diesel is an added hook for the Combilift machine that is making the strongest advances since it was launched at IMEX in 2013. The 10,000lb and 12,000lb capacity Combilift 4 wheel sideloader sits alongside the company’s multi-direction model.

"The four wheel appeals to companies which want a robust, efficient two directional model for rapid operation," added Mr McVicar. "A number of companies placed significant orders, including one that bought eight and another ten for individual sites.

"The Deutz meets Interim Tier 4 under new emissions regulations. Its clean burn characteristics also mean no visual exhaust, even without a particulate filter, including on start up. That results in not only a cleaner work environment, but less soot spoiling of stock."

He maintained that cleaner power units, like the Deutz, combined with lower fossil fuel costs, are putting a question mark over the predicted pace of market migration to electric vehicles.

"It’s helping level the playing field and I think engine choice is being dictated more by use and capacity required," said Mr McVicar. "Generally it is diesel and particularly now LPG for 2.5 to six tonnes capacity, and electric for 2.5 tonnes and lower."
Bulmor Lancer, however, believes the future will be electric. The trucks are more expensive to purchase but over time are cheaper than diesel, are quieter and vibrate less. While on a diesel truck the oil filter needs to be changed every 500 hours, an electric truck requires a change of hydraulic oil every 2,000 hours.

Doosan doubts any immediate move to electric as the timber market requires constant power to lift and move heavy and often wider than normal loads, such as timber packs and with its clean engine the company sees no real trend for its customers to go down the electric route.

"Much of the timber industry is outdoors in all weathers, and although electric trucks have become much better coping with damp or wet conditions, they are still not quite up to the needs of the timber industry," Mr Watson said.

Doosan believes its vehicles have the properties that make them the ideal no-nonsense truck for the timber sector, with simple, powerful performance; robust trucks that incorporate applied technology while avoiding an over-reliance on electronics.

Combilift’s big sellers into UK merchanting and distribution recently have included the C4000 4,000kg capacity multi-directional lift truck, and the compact, four-way counterbalance Combi CB.

Combilift is planning to unveil a vehicle at Ligna in May.

Storage investment picks up
Spending in storage and racking has also been subdued in recent years, but improvement in the timber market and the wider economy has loosened purses-strings for capital storage projects. Ohra, the German company that specialises in heavy duty storage with cantilever racking, said the company has four or five projects worth in excess of €100,000 each coming through in the first half of the year.

"People are looking for efficiency, but it’s the same for everyone, they are driven by costs," said Steve Morrison, head of Ohra’s UK sales. "We are certainly busier. There’s been an upturn, there is more optimism in the market, people will be spending more money and at the tail end of last year we were reaping the pent up demand in the market. The budgets, though, are cramping people’s style and we as a premium product have to make a good case to the customer."

He said the basic driver in the market remained to "get timber off the floor". He said: "They have timber on the floor, they know they need to get it off the floor and they know having to move 30 packs to get to one is not the way to do business."

In Europe, Ohra has a portfolio of full turnkey warehousing projects in which the building is created on the cantilever racking. A complex in Spain covers 12,000m2 and 20km of storage up to 10.5m high. "It is something we will be pushing more in the UK. We have erected canopies and covered in the sides before, but it makes sense to create a whole building by using the racking as the structure.