KINGSTON, Jamaica – A full range of heavy-duty equipment was on display at Tank-Weld Equipment’s Expo on Friday and Saturday at the company’s distribution centre at Six Miles in Kingston, and scores of people turned out to partake in the event.

Among the brands on display were Shacman trucks, Rymax lubricants, Hangcha forklifts, Shantui earthmoving vehicles and a wide range of warehouse equipment, which Marketing Manager of Tank-Weld Equipment, Staci Neil, believes cover almost every industry on the island.

Neil said the event was an effort by the company to raise awareness of its various equipment offerings to customers. It has been staged in Kingston and other parishes before, but the entity wanted to host another event in the nation’s capital, where the event was first held in 2018, to showcase additional offerings.

“We have had some good feedback. What I am liking is that when we first started and did that first show in 2018, we had a lot of people coming in just to look and kind of explore the brand and see what’s happening and now we have people coming in and they know what they want and they know what they are coming for.

“So the brand has really gained traction. People are coming to just ask more specific questions about a particular unit that they want and they are interested in. So the feedback is really good and it’s also giving exposure to the newer brands like Rymax,” Neil said.

According to Tank-Weld Equipment’s Managing Director, John Ralston, Shacman has exceeded expectations in the Jamaican market, with the truck brand also increasing market share in other Caribbean islands, such as Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Dominica.

“When we took up the dealership, we thought we would be satisfied with 50 trucks a year, but we are on average over 250 trucks a year. What’s happening now is that the Caribbean is now catching up with us with regards to the want for the Shacman trucks. Tankweld Equipment Limited is the exclusive dealer, not only for Jamaica but also the English-speaking Caribbean as well and to date we have gone 1,065 trucks in four years.

“There is no industry that we haven’t touched at this point, whether it be tourism, whether it be fuel, just haulage of goods or cement mixers, water tankers, sewage trucks, anything that a truck would be good for Shacman will actually put a unit on it,” Ralston said.

He stated that the truck is assembled in China but can be purchased with parts from different sections of the world as he said it can be modified to take US-made engines and transmissions, with the body designed by a German company.

Ralston said the Hangcha forklifts are also international although once again assembled in China, but can take engines from brands such as Toyota, Isuzu and Nissan.

District Two Sales Support and Product Manager of National Commercial Bank (NCB), Damian Bogle, explaining his company’s support for the expo, cited a study indicating that since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, construction and food are major growth areas.

“What’s happening is that construction is booming and we saw it (the Expo) as an opportunity for us to collaborate with Tankweld to see how we can move some of this heavy equipment, as well as, we benefit from it, in terms of loans and other products,” Bogle said.

Meanwhile, the fun-filled forklift operators’ exhibition competition was won by Active Traders.