JCB celebrate forklift production milestone

Manufacturer flies the flag for innovation as 10,000th Teletruk rolls off the production line

JCB have celebrated the production of their 10,000th Teletruk forklift in patriotic style – by producing the milestone machine in the colours of the Union flag.

The red white and blue machine was snapped up by one of the UK’s best-known waste-management companies, Biffa, who run one of the largest fleets of JCB Teletruks in the world. It was sold by JCB dealers Watling JCB, of Whetstone, Leicestershire.

The keys to the colourful machine – a TLT 35D 4 x 4 Eco – were handed over by JCB chairman Lord Bamford to Biffa chief executive officer Ian Wakelin at JCB’s World Headquarters, before it was pressed into service at Biffa’s new flagship mechanical biological treatment facility in Horsham, West Sussex, where it is the sole industrial forklift truck handling waste bales.

Mr Wakelin said: ‘We have long recognized the advantages the JCB Teletruk’s forward-reach ability brings to our business, which is why we have more than 50 of these innovative machines working at our plants across the UK.

‘Its ability to reach forwards and load and unload lorries from one side saves time, space and, ultimately, money, which is crucial in an industry as competitive as ours. We are delighted to have taken delivery of the unique 10,000th Teletruk, the only one in the world to be painted in the colours of the Union flag.’