The UK forklift truck industry has seen a second consecutive record year for new truck orders. Almost 30,000 powered truck unit orders were placed on British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) members in 2003, representing an 8% increase on 2002.
Demand was particularly strong for counterbalance trucks with more than 17,000 units ordered, an 11% increase on 2002. The market for warehouse trucks grew by 4% during a year to 12,000-plus units. The market was also characterised by a strong growth for walkie trucks and a 9% decline in demand for VNA trucks.
BITA says that it is difficult to attribute the growth of the UK forklift truck market to an increase in fork truck usage alone. It suspects that the continuing strength of the market is also partly due to a more rapid replacement of trucks prompted by both customer demand and by suppliers being under pressure to fulfil volume targets.
