US-based materials handling company Crown has won an International Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) award for the third time. The award was presented at the CeMAT trade fair for intralogistics and supply chain management, held from May 31 to June 3, in Hannover, Germany, where Crown’s RT 4020 stand-up rider pallet truck took top honours in the Warehouse Truck Lowlifter category.

The Crown RT 4020 stand-up rider pallet truck was launched in October last year and has a load capacity of up to 2 000 kg. It combines rugged, powerful lift-truck technology with “innovative” safety features to deliver both responsiveness and reliability. Thanks to a chassis width of just 780 mm, its maneuverability and performance is ideal for fast-paced dock work, even in very confined spaces.

Designed and manufactured by Crown, the alternating current motor is capable of powerful acceleration at speeds of up to 12.5 km/h. The RT 4020 also features a suspended floorboard and a wraparound, soft-foam lean pad and can be configured with right-hand or left-hand steering.

“Crown’s third IFOY Award for lift-truck technology is, above all, a further confirmation of our design approach, which consistently puts operators at the heart of the development process. We are proud to have produced yet another high-performance, high-value product in the form of our RT 4000 series, which delivers higher productivity and improved safety in the warehouse while simultaneously reducing costs,” says Crown VP Ken Dufford.

In 2013, Crown took an IFOY award in the Forklift Truck Solutions category for the company’s wireless fleet and operator management system, InfoLink. In 2014, Crown’s QuickPick remote order-picking technology won an award in the Warehouse Trucks category.

The aim of the annual competition is to identify and recognise the year’s best materials handling equipment and intralogistics solutions, and documents the industry’s performance capability and innovative drive, explains Crown. In doing so, the competition aims to enhance public awareness and competitiveness of the intralogistics industry as a whole and it has become one of the industry’s most prestigious awards, the company adds. The award is made annually by an independent jury of internationally reputed trade journalists.

The jury who appraised the IFOY contestants during a testing period in February were particularly impressed by the customer benefits delivered by the RT 4020 stand-up rider pallet truck. They stated in the IFOY test report: “The Crown RT 4020 is ideal for users with very limited operating space who need high productivity. The pallet truck’s narrow design is, for example, perfect for pallet put-away in very confined spaces. The transverse operator platform provides good visibility in both directions.”

According to the jury, the deciding factor was the truck’s extremely high productivity in tight spaces. “A compact design for the level of performance, important ergonomic features and, in particular, a range of safety features are [included]in this machine in an excellent fashion.”

The New Bremen, US-headquartered company has regional headquarters in Australia, China, Germany and Singapore. Crown operates a service and distribution network that exceeds 500 retail locations in over 80 countries, including South Africa, where its products are supplied by industrial equipment and solutions supplier Goscor.