Combilift donates 75,000th lift truck to charity

Combilift has donated the 75,000th forktruck built in its factory to Convoy of Hope, a non-profit humanitarian and disaster relief organization. 

As part of Combilift’s celebrations for its 25th anniversary, the Irish materials handling specialist made a special presentation at ProMat 2023, of the Aisle Master articulated forklift.

The announcement was made at a gala dinner in Chicago during the show. “The work that Convoy of Hope does is invaluable to relieve suffering around the world and we wanted to make our own contribution by donating our 75,000th truck to this very worthwhile charity,” said Combilift’s CEO and co-founder Martin McVicar.

Convoy of Hope works alongside communities and its wide network of volunteers aim to alleviate poverty and hunger and to bring help and hope wherever they are most needed in the world.  As this type of aid is sadly always in demand, operational expansion has also seen a corresponding increase in the requirement for warehousing capacity to accommodate the vast volume of supplies that are stored and ready for delivery to areas in need.   

“We are so grateful that Combilift and Martin and the whole team have actually given us one of these trucks for our operations. This is going to help people for years – and ensure that every day someone in the world will receive aid – and that brings hope,” said Erick Meier, senior vice-president – supply chain at Convoy of Hope.

The organization’s World Distribution Center is based in Springfield, Missouri, and from this location truckloads of relief supplies and food are sent on their way across the United States and around the globe. Combilift supplied its first Aisle Master for this site four years ago, and a further three units were delivered last year.

“A lot of our exponential growth has been down to the Aisle Masters as they enable us to get more loads in and out faster,” said Convoy of Hope’s senior director – distribution Jeff Smethers.

“And thanks to Combilift’s free warehouse layout service and the Aisle Master’s narrow aisle capability we have achieved the best possible storage density and very efficient operation.”