Airport Towing Trucks For Material Handling

Extremely economical, with extremely low operating costs / Numerous safety features and sophisticated ergonomics / Dual functionality: usable as a flatbed truck or four-wheel tow tractor

Jungheinrich has launched a new flatbed truck: the new, compact and manoeuvrable EZW 515, which can be used either as a flatbed truck (carrying loads of up to 1.5 tons) or a tow tractor (with a towing capacity of up to 3 tons). “This new vehicle is suitable for a number of different application types – both indoors and outdoors,” reports Oliver Rosenthal, product manager for tow tractors at Jungheinrich. The application fields for this rugged flatbed truck extend all the way from the swift supply of parts to maintenance operations to heavy-duty jobs as a four wheel tow tractor for the production area.

Highly Economical, Using State-of-the-art Three-phase AC Technology
The truck’s 48-Volt three-phase AC motor provides for powerful acceleration and high top speeds. Even when carrying heavy loads, the EZW 515 reaches speeds of up to 18 kilometres per hour. According to Rosenthal, this means “the vehicle can really demonstrate its strengths over long distances.” The drive motor and drive control system for the EZS 580 are finely attuned to each other. When the brakes are applied to the flatbed truck, energy is fed back into the battery, effectively recharging it. As Rosenthal comments: “The result is that the truck can move heavy loads at extremely low energy consumption – which in turn reduces operating costs on a long-term basis and proves extremely economical in the field.”

An optional built-in charger facilitates particularly easy battery charging. The charger can be quickly and conveniently plugged into standard electricity sockets.

Safe to Drive, Ergonomic to Operate
Apart from economical operation, Jungheinrich placed special emphasis on the issues of safety and ergonomics when developing the new electric flatbed truck. Three individual travel programs allow the operator to adjust the vehicles to varying requirements. A crawl speed button provides for safe driving in particularly tight spaces – for example when turning the flatbed truck around or in narrow production floor areas.

Additional safety resulting from the automatically activated parking brake, which prevents the truck from rolling back on slopes and additionally provides for safe start-ups of the platform truck. The truck is also optionally outfitted with special, two-stage LED lights for daylight and driving mode.

The operator workstation is ample-sized, including a large footwell, and has two seats. An especially low footstep makes it easy to climb onto and off of the vehicle. All operating and display elements in the cockpit are clearly arranged. The buttons are easy to reach, ergonomically designed and intuitively operable. Numerous storage areas make it easy for the driver to ideally organise his working space.

The vehicle is deliverable with or without a driver’s cabin. The flatbed truck’s electrohydraulic steering allows for fatigue-free travel as well as extremely precise steering with a minimum of exertion. When driving over longer distances and uneven floor surfaces, the fully sprung chassis not only protects the vehicle and its load, but is also easy on the driver’s back.

High Turnover, Extremely Robust Design
To ensure top performance even for the toughest applications, the truck’s chassis is made of 8 mm high-quality steel. The chassis apron on the front goes up especially high to provide extra protection for the plastic parts, for example the lights on the flatbed truck. A range of coupling options makes it possible to use the flatbed truck as a tow tractor. An optional inching control provides for easy coupling and decoupling.

Numerous additional options allow the truck to be tailored to specific application requirements. This includes different add-ons on the platform, including loading gates, tarpaulin top and boxed housing as well as a range of differently designed couplings and cabins for outdoor applications.

As Oliver Rosenthal concludes: “The EZW 515 flatbed truck is an extremely economical vehicle with excellent safety features and sophisticated ergonomics.”

Jungheinrich ranks among the world’s leading companies in the material handling equipment, warehousing and material flow engineering sectors. The company is an intralogistics service and solution provider with manufacturing operations, which offers its customers a comprehensive range of forklift trucks, logistics systems, services and advice. Jungheinrich shares are traded on all German stock exchanges.