Forklift and lift trucks distributor Goscor Lift Truck Company (GLTC) delivered two electric lifting trucks, called Donkeys, to passenger, ramp and cargo handling services provider Menzies Aviation’s cargo facility at OR Tambo Inter- national Airport in June.

This is the first time that the Donkeys, which are manufactured by South Korean conglome- rate Doosan, have been used in South Africa.

“The Donkeys are used for handling air cargo and for the horizontal transport of unit load devices on all common slave pallets. They have a 7.5 t lifting capacity and have been hand-built specifically for use in South Africa at Doosan’s new materials handling division, in Langenfeld, Germany,” says Menzies Aviation South Africa cargo GM Peter Cizek.

“The Donkeys have been an important addition to the operation since their arrival. This was the best investment we could have made at this time,” he notes.

GLTC MD Darryl Shafto, who recently visited the Langenfeld plant, says the world is moving towards the Donkey in terms of air cargo handling.

“With environmental concerns topping agendas and people increasingly trying to reduce diesel consumption, the fully battery-powered Donkey is a machine of the future. It is a precision-built, powerful, green machine and we are thrilled to partner with Menzies Aviation in bringing this product to South Africa,” Shafto states.
The Donkey is powerful enough to lift an entire slave pallet. “Instead of having to split it into different parts for transporting, as is necessary with smaller- capacity forklifts, we can bring an entire pallet into the warehouse and break it down. Operators can get more done in less time, which increases productivity all round. We also use the Donkeys instead of forklifts to transport large pallets into the warehouse. This is a much safer method of manoeuvring the cargo.

“The risk of cargo breakage is far less with the Donkey than with forklifts,” says Shafto.

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