A leading West Australian produce company helps meet Perth's demand for fresh produce with a trio of Toyota 8-Series forklift trucks.
Patane Produce, based at Myalup south of Perth, is a leading supplier of carrots, onions, potatoes and broccoli to the Perth markets, as well as interstate and overseas.
The company commissioned three 1.8-tonne Toyota 8FG18 forklifts at the end of 2011 to increase production and improve the reliability of its material handling fleet.
Managing director Michael Patane said he bought his first Toyota forklift 15 years ago and that machine, an 7FG18 model, is still in active service after logging an impressive 14,000 hours.
"Toyota forklifts - they just keep working," he said.
"I've come to know the machines well over the years and never had any reliability issues.
"As well as the faithful Toyota 7-Series forklift, we have a second-hand 6-Series Toyota forklift that is still performing well.
"At the end of 2011 I bought the three 8FG18 Toyota forklifts to expand production and replace some second-hand machines of another brand, because the maintenance costs were too high."
Mr Patane said on a typical working day four semi-trailer loads of produce make the 125km trip north from Myalup to Canning Vale Markets, and the Coles receiving centres in Perth.
Patane Produce's operation consists of 440 hectares in the southwest and includes growing areas, administration buildings and several packing complexes.
Toyota Material Handling Perth branch area sales manager Danny Carbery said Toyota 8-Series forklifts offer leading design and safety features, such as Automatic Fork Levelling Control to level forks during loading and Active Control Rear Stabiliser, which locks the rear axle to help reduce the potential of lateral tip-overs.
Patane Produce Raises Output With Toyota Forklifts