The client is a regional humanitarian organisation running a central relief hub near a major city in the UAE. From this base, they receive international aid shipments, store emergency stocks and dispatch convoys to crisis‑affected countries in the wider region. The site combines a main warehouse, large outdoor storage areas and temporary tents used for kitting and repacking relief items.
Because the hub’s internal roads and yards are gradually expanded and improved, the organisation needed equipment that could support both ongoing Construction & Infrastructure work and humanitarian logistics on mixed surfaces.
Running a humanitarian logistics hub in desert conditions created several challenges:
Mixed surfaces: concrete loading areas, compacted gravel lanes and open desert‑like ground in parts of the yard and access roads.
Large volumes of palletized relief items including tents, shelter kits, food rations, bottled water and medical supplies.jtscm+1
Need for rough terrain forklifts for emergency relief warehouses and outdoor yards that stay productive in heat, dust and occasional soft ground.
High peaks in activity during sudden emergencies when several convoys must be prepared at once and temporary access routes may still be uneven.group.
The customer therefore required robust, easy‑to‑operate machines with high resilience and minimal training overhead for mixed construction and logistics roles.
HAMAC supplied 4 units of RT35 rough terrain forklifts for humanitarian relief logistics operations, each with 3.5 ton capacity, 4×4 drive and large off‑road tyres. RT35 is built for buyers who want more reserve capacity than a 3 ton rough terrain forklift without moving to the size and budget of a 5 ton machine, making it ideal for multi‑purpose relief hubs.
Each machine was configured with:
Enclosed cab for operator protection from heat and dust, with wide visibility around pedestrians and stacked pallets.
Deep‑pattern off‑road tyres and generous ground clearance to cope with gravel, sand patches and uneven outdoor areas.
Simple mechanical layout and proven hydraulic transmission for reliability and easy field maintenance.
Receiving and put‑away of incoming relief cargo
When containers or aircraft pallets arrive, RT35 forklifts unload palletized tents, food rations and bottled water at the main warehouse and outdoor pads. Because they are rough terrain forklifts, they continue working even if temporary access roads are dusty, rutted or only partially compacted.
Internal transfers between warehouse and outdoor tents
From the main warehouse, RT35 units move pallets of selected items to outdoor tents where kitting teams assemble family kits or medical packs. This role as forklifts for moving humanitarian relief kits between warehouse storage and tented packing areas maintains a smooth internal flow and reduces manual double‑handling.
Convoy preparation and truck loading
During emergency deployments, all four RT35 forklifts operate in parallel to stage supplies near loading lines and load relief trucks with mixed pallets of food, water and medical supplies. The trucks work under floodlights on partially prepared surfaces, keeping convoys on schedule even when ground conditions are far from warehouse‑standard.
Flexible use during quiet and peak periods
In quieter periods, one or two forklifts handle routine stock rotation and infrastructure materials, supporting ongoing improvements to the hub’s yard and access roads. When a crisis occurs, all four RT35s are deployed, providing immediate surge capacity without needing to bring in rental equipment at short notice.
By deploying RT35 forklifts, the humanitarian logistics hub achieved several key benefits:
Faster turnaround of incoming and outgoing shipments, especially during large emergency responses that place heavy loads on access roads and loading areas.
Reliable handling of heavy pallets on rough or uneven ground, reducing pallet damage, manual handling and operational delays.
Improved operator safety and comfort in hot, dusty conditions thanks to enclosed cabs, off‑road tyres and purpose‑built rough‑terrain design.
Greater resilience in both construction and logistics operations, as work continues even when parts of the yard and access routes are not yet fully paved.
This project confirms that RT35 rough terrain forklifts for humanitarian logistics hubs in the United Arab Emirates are a robust and flexible choice for organisations that must keep relief supplies and infrastructure materials moving under demanding environmental conditions.
"If you have projects with similar lifting requirements, our team can recommend the right HAMAC telehandler or forklift configuration."
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