Hiab Establishes Second Production Location in Ohio

Streetsboro, Ohio (Sept. 1, 2021) — Load handling equipment provider Hiab today announces the establishment of a second production facility in Streetsboro, Ohio, for its Moffett and Princeton truck-mounted forklifts, where the company currently makes tail lifts, sold under the Waltco brand.

It will also develop a new factory in Dundalk, County Louth, for its truck-mounted forklift manufacturing operations. When operational in 2023, the new facility will replace Hiab’s existing Dundalk facility.

With record global demand for its truck-mounted forklifts, Hiab announces the recruitment of an additional 80 new roles to add to the current workforce of 100 at its Streetsboro facility to provide additional capacity for Hiab’s truck mounted forklift production in Dundalk, Ireland. Hiab is a provider of on-road load handling equipment, intelligent services, smart and connected solutions. Customers range from single truck owner-operators and small fleet owners to international fleet and rental companies, across private and public sectors. Its products serve a range of industries including construction, waste management, recycling, forestry, fire rescue, agriculture and landscaping.

Rogier van der Linde, senior vice president for truck-mounted forklifts at Hiab said, “We are seeing remarkable uplift in demand for our products both in the United States and in Europe. We are planning for now as well as for our continued success in the future. The establishment of a second facility for the production of truck-mounted forklifts in Ohio is to deliver high volume manufacturing capacity for the U.S. market. We will start recruitment immediately, and the majority of the roles are for a new supply chain team, general operators with mechanical skills, in addition to support roles in manufacturing, engineering, R&D engineering, quality, warehousing, and planning. While our new Dundalk facility will continue to produce machines for the U.S. market, it will also have additional focus and capacity to meet accelerating demand in our growing European markets and around the world.”

van der Linde said that these announcements also demonstrated Hiab’s commitment, and that of its parent company Cargotec, to enhance its position as a sustainable manufacturer. “As a significant provider of load handling equipment to logistics and construction companies around the world, we are committed to playing our part in meeting the global climate challenge. We are a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact’s Business Ambition for 1.5°C, and this announcement is part of our plan to turn this commitment into reality. By establishing a facility in Ohio, we will be able to service many of our U.S. customers without having to ship machines across the Atlantic, reducing our carbon footprint in the process. Secondly, our new Dundalk facility will deliver significant reductions in our carbon footprint using the latest environmental and engineering design solutions. Finally, at our new Dundalk facility, our R&D team will have the capacity and facilities to lead on the development of more sustainable machines for our customers.”

Jim Oreck, vice president of sales and services, North America, adds, “With the increased demand for our truck-mounted forklift products in the U.S., we are extremely excited to begin manufacturing units here in Ohio. This will allow us to provide reduced lead times to our customers, additional capacity for growth, and reduce our CO2 impact associated with transportation.”