TNT, The Netherlands

Toyota Traigo 48 case study

TNT’s fleet of 82 Toyota Traigo 48 counterbalance trucks at its Duiven European road hub are the central link in this huge cross-docking operation.

TNT is one of the world’s leading providers of express delivery services. Its site in Duiven, in the centre of the Netherlands, is the main international road hub for the whole of Europe, with a huge 150,000 m2 sorting area that handles over 6300 tonnes of goods every week.

Compact yet powerful, and with class-leading visibility, the Toyota Traigo 48 features a robust chassis, wrap-around counterweight design, and heavy-duty battery hood for added durability in intense operations like TNT, where the trucks are expected to perform for 3,000 hours a year.

The Toyota Traigo 48 is equipped with Toyota’s System of Active Stability (SAS). The world’s only integrated active safety system for forklifts, SAS offers a range of operator friendly features that improve the handling capabilities of both truck and driver, resulting in greater safety, increased productivity and less damage.

In addition to the Traigo 48’s standard features, Toyota answered TNT Duiven’s specific requirements by adding a robust polycarbonate cover to the overhead guard, a height limiter (with manual override) for working inside vehicles and a “dead-man’s pedal” to help ensure that drivers keep their left foot inside the truck when driving.

Although a large part of the work the trucks are used for is unloading and loading the 380 trailers that the Duiven site handles every day, because of the variable nature of the loads and their carriers, this is a job that can only be performed by a counterbalance truck. Parcels arrive in cages and are sorted using a bespoke conveyor system. However, many of TNT’s consignments are pallet loads of various sizes.

Toyota also installed a bespoke battery charging system at

TNT to help boost productivity by maximising the potential of each battery and speeding up the battery exchange process using a specially adapted BT Levio powered pallet truck to remove and replace the batteries on rollerbeds.

Though TNT knew it needed to expand its truck fleet, it also knew it must not at the same time expand its damage costs. Indeed, they should be significantly reduced. To help achieve this, Toyota I_Site, the dedicated consultancy and reporting service from Toyota, was a key part of the package. Toyota I_Site monitors all aspects of fleet usage and delivers easy-to-understand reports with clear recommendations on how to improve key operational areas.

Toyota I_Site cards were issued to all authorised operators and each new Toyota Traigo 48 at TNT is equipped with a

card reader start-up system. With Toyota I_Site, TNT Duiven can tell exactly who was behind the wheel at any one time, how long they worked and if the trucks experienced any shocks. Toyota I_Site also reports in-depth information including the number of hours each truck is used per shift, whether the truck has been sidelined, and if it requires service or maintenance.

TNT Duiven’s continued partnership with Toyota Material Handling Netherlands has paid immediate dividends by lowering costs – welcome news in today’s budget-conscious business environment. Harry Bruns confirms, “Within four months of taking delivery of the new Traigo 48s we saw a massive 70% reduction in fleet damage costs, thanks to a combination of improvements in the truck’s design and the benefits of Toyota I_Site.”