Trucks & Trolleys

Platform trolleys, turntable and Ackerman trucks, shelved distribution trucks, roll containers and specialist bogies — the wheeled kit that moves stock, parts and awkward loads between goods-in, storage and despatch. Every unit on this page is UK-manufactured by GPC Industries or STUBBS, and every one is fully welded steel rather than folded and bolted. Twenty-seven ranges, 154 configurations, £1,007.16 to £11,884.08, median £1,642.80.

Read this before you buy: this is not a £40 folding trolley page

Search "platform trolley" in the UK and the first screen is almost entirely shopping units — folding, plastic-or-thin-steel carts rated 80 kg to 270 kg at roughly £30 to £150. They are genuinely useful for an office move or a market stall, and if that is the job, buy one of those and stop reading.

The equipment below solves a different problem. The lightest thing here is a fully welded distribution truck at £1,007.16 carrying 500 kg; the heaviest is a CE-marked industrial trailer at £11,884.08 carrying 5,000 kg. That is roughly ten times the price and five to eighteen times the capacity of the consumer carousel. The reason to pay it is duty cycle: a welded tubular-steel frame on 200 mm rubber castors survives a decade of eight-hour shifts on a concrete floor, and a folding cart does not. If the trolley is going to be pushed twice a week, the carousel is the better buy. If it is going to be pushed two hundred times a day, it is not. Our fuller comparison of the formats is in platform trucks and warehouse trolleys: choosing the right type.

What we do not stock, said plainly

We do not sell sack trucks or sack barrows — the two-wheeled upright kind. There is not one on this page and there is not one in the catalogue. They are among the most-searched handling products in the UK and we would rather say so here than let you work through 27 products to find out. For a sack truck, go to a general handling factor. What we do have is everything with a deck or shelves under it.

Two other honest handoffs: bins and tote pans are sold separately from the racks and trolleys designed to hold them (steel bins are SKU SB00BIN, tote pans GTP0BIN), and the bin racks and tote pan racks in this range are static — they are parts storage, not trolleys, and sit here because they share a family with the mobile bin trolley. If the question is really whether a given item should be on wheels at all, static vs mobile storage works through it.

Platform, turntable and Ackerman trucks

For long or heavy loads a flat-deck truck is the simplest answer, and the choice is really a steering choice.

• Turntable trucks (from £1,794.12, 8 configurations) — fully welded tubular steel and angle section with an exterior-grade plywood platform, fitted with a ball-bearing turntable assembly. The front axle pivots as a unit, so the truck steers easily even under load.
• Two-wheel Ackerman trucks (from £2,223.06, 8 configurations) — steer from a central pivot transmitted by adjustable track rods. The wheels stay located under the corners at all times, so there is no possibility of tipping while turning. This is the one to pick for long loads and tight aisles; it costs about £429 more than the equivalent turntable truck and the money buys turning stability, not capacity.
• Hand drawn trucks (from £1,281.06, 26 configurations — the widest choice in the range) — friction turntable plate as standard, ball-bearing assembly available on all models. Both metal and plywood sided units have removable hinged sides and fixed ends, so the same truck handles boxed and loose stock.
• STUBBS large heavy duty turntable trucks (from £1,282.38, 16 configurations) — decks from 1500 × 750 mm up to 2000 × 1000 mm, load capacity up to 1,500 kg, black powder coat with exterior-grade tongue-and-groove decks and sides. A wire-mesh superstructure version with a half-drop side is available for loose or high-stacked loads.
• STUBBS large timber bogies (from £1,482.96) — three adjustable extension positions at 1350, 2200 or 3300 mm, a 1200 mm saddle width and 1,500 kg capacity, on 355 mm cushion wheels. T-bar or draw-bar handle. For long timber, board and section stock this beats a platform truck because you set the support spacing to the material rather than the other way round — the static equivalent is in long load storage and timber, pipe and steel bar racks.

Sides and ends on the standard turntable and Ackerman ranges are 300 mm deep. Friction parking brakes and wire-mesh superstructures are available across the range but are not fitted as standard. Wheel and castor choice matters more than most buyers expect on a welded truck — see choosing castors and wheels.

Distribution trucks: check the shelf rating, not the truck rating

This is the specification most often missed on a shelved truck, and it is in our own data. The GPC heavy duty distribution truck is rated 500 kg evenly distributed — and 30 kg per shelf. Both figures are correct. The 500 kg is what the frame and castors will carry; the 30 kg is what one plywood-and-steel shelf will carry before it deflects. If you are moving picked orders in totes, the 30 kg is the number that governs, and a four-shelf truck loaded to its shelf rating is nowhere near its frame rating.

The comparison across the range makes the point:

• HD distribution truck, from £1,007.16 (30 configurations, the largest single range here) — 500 kg UDL, 30 kg per shelf, 200 mm rubber castors, two fixed and two swivel braked. Base shelf included, extra shelves available. Some assembly required.
• HD security distribution truck (locking model), from £1,642.80 — same frame, hasp and staple with padlock facility. Padlock not included.
• Apollo UK powered distribution truck, from £4,486.50 (12 configurations) — 600 kg UDL on a level surface and 100 kg heavy-duty shelves, which is more than three times the shelf rating of the manual truck. Two fixed pneumatic drive wheels and two 200 mm swivel rubber castors; shelves adjustable in 100 mm increments; forward/reverse levers, adjustable speed toggle and emergency stop. Six-hour charge for a 2.5 to 6 mile range depending on load — and the instruction is explicit: do not let the battery run flat.

The powered truck costs roughly four and a half times the manual one. If the route is long, sloped or repeated all shift, that is the calculation; if it is thirty metres of flat floor, it is not. For picking rounds specifically see picking trolleys for warehouse order picking and box and distribution trolleys.

Roll containers, security trolleys and mesh trucks

• Heavy duty roll containers, from £1,332.30 (11 configurations) — the familiar retail and laundry cage format, UK-made from powder-coated steel in blue, on two fixed and two swivel 100 mm castors. Available with two ends, two ends and one side, or two ends and two sides, in 1100 × 700 × 1500 mm and 1730 × 725 × 1800 mm. 75 kg per removable shelf. Supplied flat-packed. Background in roll cages and roll containers.
• Security box trolleys, from £1,714.44 — 500 kg capacity on 200 mm rubber-tyred castors, usable body 1150 × 770 × 1140 mm, lockable lid with a half-drop front for access. Steel or mesh body. Padlock not supplied.
• Wire mesh trucks, from £1,299.06 — 50 mm mesh on an 18 mm exterior-grade plywood base, 1300 litres, on 125 mm castors. The lid is padlockable and when it is shut the drop-down front cannot open, so the unit is fully enclosed. Half-drop-side version available. For static secure storage see storage cages and stillages.
• Self levelling trolleys, from £1,960.98 — box and bag versions, for pick faces where you want the top item at a constant working height instead of bending into an emptying stack. A genuine manual handling control rather than a convenience.
• STUBBS merchandising trolley, £1,721.88 — 300 kg across four shelves and eight bins in a 1650 × 1060 × 590 mm frame. A proven cash-and-carry and trade-counter format.

Parts storage: bin trolleys, bin racks and tote pan racks

One mobile option and two static ones, and it is worth being clear which is which before ordering.

• Galvanised bin trolleys, £1,274.10 — the mobile one. Welded steel with a galvanised top shelf and bin retainers, on 100 mm nylon castors (two fixed, two swivel), 930H × 1040W × 610D mm, to suit 12 × SB003 bins.
• Galvanised bin racks, from £1,262.40 (4 configurations) — static, welded steel with bin retainers, four bins per shelf, 8-shelf units at 455 or 610 mm depth and 1350 mm width.
• Bin racks, from £1,285.62 (5 configurations) — 1920 × 930 mm light grey frame with galvanised louvred panels, single or double sided. Bin sizes run from 106 × 136 × 76 mm up to 280 × 457 × 254 mm.
• Tote pan racks — horizontal shelf, from £1,262.40 (3 configurations) — 8 shelves at 455 or 610 mm depth. Other shelf heights available to order.

For the fixed side of a stores area, see racking and shelving, workshop storage and industrial cupboards.

Skips, skates and heavy movers

• Tilting skip trucks, from £1,914.24 mobile and £2,342.76 static — 300 kg / half a cubic metre, body 1220 × 600 × 700 mm, fully welded with a press-formed top for rigidity, positive skip lock mechanism, side-entry fork pockets, retaining bars and integral sideguards enclosing the tip skid. CE marked and plated. Full range in skips and tipping containers.
• Heavy duty roll skips, £3,902.82 — 0.8 cubic metres, 1203 × 1550 × 895 mm, 150 kg unit weight. Lead time 15–20 days, the only published lead time in the range.
• Complete skate sets, from £1,400.04 — machinery skates for moving generators, presses and large steel fabrications. Loads are raised with a roller crowbar or hydraulic jack. Maintenance-free sealed bearings, carrying handles, anti-slip rubber mats on the tops. Set includes a steerable skate with drawbar, two adjustable skates and connecting rods.
• Heavy duty drum lifter, from £1,554.30 — 500 mm or 800 mm lift height, the 800 mm version suiting plastic or steel drums. See also drum storage, drum handling equipment and spill containment.
• Drum and roll turner, £2,750.52 — for rotating drums and reels without manual handling.
• Lifting as well as moving — where the load has to change height, see lift tables and level loaders.

Industrial trailers for towed loads

Three ranges, all CE marked and plated with a 50 mm towing eye, for tug and tractor work rather than hand pushing:

• Industrial trailer, from £2,466.60 — 1,000 kg, 2000 × 1000 mm deck, pneumatic or cushion tyres, with or without sides and ends.
• Four wheel steering Ackerman trailers, from £8,671.80 — 3,000 kg, steel or plywood deck, 450 mm wire rubber-tyred wheels on 30 mm roller bearings, heavy duty steering turrets with thrust bearings and phosphor-bronze bushes. The drawbar is removable and can be used at either end, which is what makes a train of them practical in a dead-end bay.
• Heavy duty industrial trailers, from £11,884.08 — 5,000 kg, steel or plywood. A stop prevents the drawbar dropping below 230 mm and a lock holds it vertical. Link turntable steering available on all models to order.

For powered towing without a forklift licence, see electric tugs and moving loads without a forklift.

Two things that catch people out on delivery day

A forklift is needed to unload most of this range. It is stated on the wire mesh trucks, the security box trolleys, the roll containers, the heavy duty distribution trucks, the timber bogies and the drum units. These arrive as welded assemblies weighing a couple of hundred kilos on a curtain-sider; no forklift on site means the unit does not come off the lorry. Book the plant before you book the delivery — and if the site has no dock, see container access ramps and loading bay equipment.

Padlocks are not supplied on anything that locks — the wire mesh trucks, the security box trolleys and the security distribution truck all have a hasp, staple or lockable lid and no padlock in the box. Buy them with the trolley.

Choosing between them

• Long or awkward material — timber bogie if it is long and uniform, Ackerman truck if it is long and needs to turn corners, turntable truck if the aisle is generous.
• Picked orders and totes — distribution truck, and specify by the 30 kg shelf rating, not the 500 kg frame rating.
• Long or repeated routes — the powered distribution truck, once the walk justifies £4,486.50 and a six-hour charge cycle.
• Loose stock that must not be pilfered — wire mesh truck for visibility, security box trolley for concealment.
• Retail, laundry and despatch — roll containers, flat-packed, 75 kg per shelf.
• Small parts — bin trolley if it moves, bin rack or tote pan rack if it does not, and remember the bins are a separate order.
• Towed trains — industrial trailers at 1,000, 3,000 or 5,000 kg.
• Pallets rather than decks — a pallet truck is the cheaper and faster answer; compare manual and powered versions, or read pallet stacker vs pallet truck and see the stacker range.

Also relevant: access platforms and steps for reaching stock, hazardous storage where the load is a chemical, and safety barriers where trolley traffic and foot traffic share a route.

Prices shown are the current live prices for the entry configuration of each range and include the variants listed on each product page. Load capacities are the manufacturer's published figures and are stated as evenly distributed loads unless a per-shelf figure is given.