Pole Position

Waverley Forklifts is the largest independent forklift company in Australia.

The business handles in excess of 5,500 rental machines in its fleet and boasts branches in every state.

The predominant brand of forklift is Toyota, with Manitou for rough terrain applications. Company CEO Charlie Schwerkolt has built this family-owned enterprise on what he calls the three pillars: “extremely good equipment, amazing staff, and fantastic service.”

That he doesn’t merely pay lip service to this mantra is proven by the impressive success of the company over many years and by using exactly the same model in every state.

A key factor in providing the desired high level of service provided by Waverley Forklifts is the use of its own fleet of trucks to transport the various pieces of forklift equipment.

Nationally, the fleet has grown to more than 30 trucks ranging from six-tonne tilt trays to B-doubles with the clear intention to provide a one stop shop which can deliver forklifts to clients in most areas of the country on the same day as the initial phone call.

The core of the forklift operation is the provision of a fully maintained rental package for units between one-tonne and 16-tonnes capacity for periods ranging from one day to five years. The only other area Waverley Forklifts has ventured into is the supply of Terberg terminal tractors to Australia Post.

Charlie started out as a driver for his father. He has held a truck licence since he was 18 and regards forklifts as better to transport than general freight.

“We have got to be fairly stringent in all our safety procedures, and now it’s a lot safer with winching everything up and strapping them down,” he says.

“I think they are easier to cart but obviously you’ve got to watch your height and your weights. It’s just something I was taught as a kid to do every time I hop in a truck, I’ve got to make sure what’s on the back height-wise. Forklifts have a tendency of hitting bridges or power lines and you’ve got to be right on the ball.”

The average forklift weighs around four tonnes and ten units can be legal on a B-double provided the axle weights are right. Moving a forklift just one metre can change the axle weight distribution, so the trailers are equipped with on-board scales.

Charlie’s father started the business using second hand Bedfords and when Charlie came into the company in 1988 one of his dreams was to get to the point of being able to afford a Kenworth.

“They are a very good quality truck and I’m proud to now have them in the fleet,” says Charlie. The only other brand of truck to be considered, for the lower weight applications, is Hino.

“I’m a pretty loyal sort of a person. All the forklifts are Toyota. The bigger trucks are Kenworth and we’ve got 12 Hinos in fleet. They’ve been really great.”

Obviously, the relationship with Hino’s parent Toyota Corporation fits with the business as well. “It ties in very well delivering the Toyota materials handling product on a Hino truck,” says Charlie.

“The Hinos have been fantastic as a metro truck delivering forklifts all around Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. They’re reliable and very easy to drive.”

The Hino fleet includes 4×2 and 6×4 tilt trays based on Hino 500 Series models and recently a Hino 700 Series prime mover has been added. Waverley Forklifts looks for good people to match its chosen brands of quality equipment.

“We’re a pretty tight family-style operation where we take great pride in looking after our staff and I think that gives us a better shot of recruiting and retaining the right people,” he says. “Our staff turnover is extremely low because of this.”

Charlie considers his truck drivers to be important ambassadors for the company.

“You want your own driver delivering your forklift to a site,” he says. “If you’re a customer, the first impression of Waverley Forklifts is the truck driver delivering to your place. I want them to be a breath of fresh air and for the customer to think: ‘this guy actually cares.’”

Large public events also benefit from the expertise of the Waverley Forklifts team. An example is the Australian Grand Prix held at the Albert Park Circuit where Waverley Forklifts have been providing forklifts for the past 27 years, with up to 180 forklifts at the site from the end of January through to the end of May.

The much-anticipated Taylor Swift tour next year will involve 35 to 40 Waverley machines at every concert venue. Other events such as the Sydney Boat Show may require 20 or so machines which might only be there a week.

To deliver onsite service to its forklift customers, Waverley Forklifts has more than 50 service vans around the country, all based on Toyota HiLux cab-chassis.

The trucks are not under service contracts and a service provider ensures a team of technicians handle the needs of the trucks every weekend in all locations. This aids in achieving optimum time management for the trucks while ensuring all repairs and maintenance procedures are expertly carried out. Most of Waverley Forklifts transport applications are quite low in annual mileage.

Consequently the Kenworths are generally kept for ten years and the Hinos seven years. At the end of their time, there are no issues selling them off as complete units because the equipment is good to begin with and is well looked after.

The tilt trays and the low loader trailers are manufactured to Waverley Forklift’s specifications by CTE. There is considerable investment in building the tilt tray bodies and efforts are made to keep the tray level as low as possible, assisted by utilising low profile tyres to keep height down, which also requires specifying taller diff ratios to maintain correct engine and road speeds.

“Forklifts are going higher and as industrial space gets more expensive people want to go higher with their racking,” says Charlie. “When we started a five or six metre forklift was considered high. Now we’re providing 11 and 12 metres lift heights.”

Something which permeates throughout the entire Waverley Forklifts operation is the feeling of a special corporate “culture”.

New employees sometimes express surprise at how friendly and helpful other team members are in their effort to be a part of building the biggest forklift rental company in Australia.

“Culture in business doesn’t just happen, you’ve really got to work hard,” says Charlie.

“I’ve been in this business at the same place for 45 years and during that time I’ve built a great leadership team, including our Manager Director, Justin White, and it’s so important to have a good culture where everyone feels part of the team.”

Charlie is also known for being the owner of Team 18 which contests the Supercars Championship using two Chevrolet Camaros which are built in-house. Motor racing serves as a very effective promotional program for not only Waverley Forklifts, but for the long-term race team sponsors as well, including long-time supporters Hino and Kenworth.

Ironically, it was because of a forklift that Charlie became involved in Supercars, after abandoning his own motor racing ambitions as a young man to concentrate on building the business.

Years later Charlie found himself seated on a plane next to Australian motorsport icon Dick Johnson.

“Dick asked what did and I told him I rented forklifts,” recalls Charlie.

As it so happened, Dick had a very tired old forklift in his race shop and invited Charlie to visit, which lead to a new forklift as part of a sponsorship arrangement which, in due course, reignited Charlie’s interest in motor sport, ultimately leading to his ownership of Team 18.

Waverly Forklifts’ sustained success in the competitive forklift rental sector can be attributed to many things such as providing top level service and world class equipment.

“I’m still extremely passionate about Waverley Forklifts and enjoy coming to work every day.. says Charlie. “We’ve developed a successful business model that really works and I believe, it’s the best forklift company in Australia”.