5000^th Truck Rental Donated to Ben, the Automotive Industry Charity

Dawsongroup material handling has celebrated its 5000^th truck, and what better way to celebrate than to donate a percentage of the rental income to charity? Simon Fox, Fleet Services Team Leader, noticed that its arrival was rapidly approaching and suggested marking the occasion with something special.

Ben, the automotive industry charity, is one of Dawsongroup’s partner charities through Open Hands, our Corporate Social Responsibility program, and it was the logical choice to benefit from this fantastic idea. 15% of the weekly hire cost will be donated to Ben for the lifetime of the vehicle while it is on fleet, which is usually around five years.

Once the details of the charity donation had been worked out, the next step was finding a customer to hire N5000, a Combilift C4000ET. This model is an electric multidirectional forklift designed for the safe, space-saving and productive handling of long and bulky loads. Amy had recently visited Fork Truck Direct Ltd (FTD) as part of her role as Dealer Relationship Manager for Dawsongroup material handling’s Combilift short-term hire fleet. She met with Dave Brown, Regional Sales Manager for FTD, to explain what Dawsongroup could offer. The key advantage for Dave was that our hire fleet is exclusively available to support the dealer network and therefore does not have Dawsongroup branding.

Dave enquired with Amy for a CBE4000, and she was able to offer the N5000 as a close alternative. His customer, Colorminium, was in need of a truck as their order had a lead time of 48 weeks, and they needed to be able to move large sheets of glass in their new warehouse. When James Price, Logistics Manager for Colorminium, was told he could hire a brand-new Combilift to fill this order gap and part of the rental would be donated to charity, he was delighted.

“We chose Combilift because it’s incredibly smooth to operate and very versatile,” said James. “It can move a huge variety of different size, shape and weight pallets, as well as metal stillages for carrying glass; it can carry loads in multiple directions, and it’s lovely to drive. Having part of the rental income go to charity just added to the appeal.”

As well as hiring, selling and servicing forklifts for the South-East of England and being the largest independent Combilift straddle carrier supplier in the UK, FTD also encourages its employees to raise funds for charity. Their most epic event was when Dave and his colleagues cycled from London to Paris in three days, raising £2,500 for their chosen charities.

“The Ben forklift couldn’t have been more perfect as the first hire for FTD,” said Dave. “It’s nice to do something different, and Benis a really good charity as it covers such a broad spectrum of support, from physical health and mental wellbeing through to offering assistance and advice in a crisis situation or with financial worries.”

Neither James nor Dave had heardof Ben before this. Having Ben’s logo and contact information on N5000 is already making people more aware of the charity, as well as thebenefits the donations will bring to people in the automotive industry.

“Ben is a fantastic charity for people in our industry who need help,” said Tim Abraham, Managing Director of Dawsongroup material handling. “It’s comforting to know that the funds we provide allow them to assist our industry colleagues.”

There are some things you can’t fix on your own. Call Ben.

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If your forktruck business could benefit from a Combilift short-term hire, contact Dawsongroup material handling and find out how our Smarter Asset Strategy can support your business.