The company, which operates from a sloping site in the Peak National Park, specialises in precision machining work and currently has a contract to produce longitudinal structural components for rail carriages.

The battery-powered Sidetracker takes packs of extrusions weighing 2.5 tonnes from the delivery lorry to an external bulk storage area and then delivers them up an 8 per cent gradient to the production area as required for machining. Handling such long components inside the factory with a conventional lift truck would have caused problems, but the twin-axle steering on the Sidetracker enables it to rotate on its own axis and manoeuvre safely through the works.

The Sidetracker is a four-wheel model with two drive wheels, an articulating chassis that ensures firm ground contact, and treaded cushion tyres that increase traction and driver comfort on slopes and uneven ground. Power is provided by twin electro-hydraulic units, and the driver can also select a high-torque setting to increase traction further when necessary.The 18-metre extrusions are carried on special forks with a spread of seven metres which have a 5mm layer of polyurethane on top to prevent scuffing