Company Announcement - Toyota Forklift, a division of Eqstra Industrial Equipment, has been awarded a major order for a comprehensive range of warehousing equipment for the Shoprite and Freshmark operations of the Shoprite Group of Companies, Africa's largest food retailer. The order sees one of the first deliveries of the zero-emission and exceptionally efficient Toyota Traigo electric counterbalanced forklift trucks to an operation in South Africa. The equipment supply and on-site maintenance contract was awarded to Toyota Forklift towards the end of last year, with delivery rolled out from late 2014 into 2015. The order, comprising a total of over 400 trucks, predominantly from the BT range of warehousing equipment, is mainly for Shoprite and Freshmark distribution centres in Cape Town and Centurion, where the equipment will be used for both replacement and expansion purposes. The Centurion distribution centre is the largest of its kind in southern Africa.

The equipment being supplied includes award-winning products from Toyota Material
Handling Europe, including the Toyota Traigo forklift truck and Toyota I_Site, recipients of International Forklift Truck of the Year 2014 awards. The powerful forklift fleet management solution, the Toyota I_Site, now offers web-based control, providing convenient access and easy and effective fleet management.

Also part of the order are 200 BT Optio low-level order pickers, designed to meet a variety of demands for picking height, manageability and load capacity.

"This major order is a proud addition to our long working relationship with the Shoprite group of more than 15 years. It is fully in line with our philosophy of forming partnerships with our clients for life, not only through the delivery of world class products, but also based on our customer-focused service," says Gary Neubert, Eqstra Divisional CEO: Industrial Equipment.

Note to Editors
As the sole distributors for Toyota Forklifts, BT and Raymond Equipment in Southern Africa, Toyota Forklift is able to meet all customer warehousing and materials handling requirements, offering rental and used equipment, after-market service, operator training as well as a range of other value added services. Distribution and service is carried out through branches in the main centres with depots and dealers complementing the Southern Africa network.

Eqstra Industrial Equipment provides distribution, leasing, rental and value-added services for industrial, materials handling and agricultural equipment in South Africa, various other African countries, the UK and Ireland. The division is the largest supplier of forklifts to the South African market and has the largest product support infrastructure.