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Sep 28, 2009 BLT shows the way for West African business Big Lift Trucks (BLT) hosted a function for the 27 member trade delegation from West Africa which visited Jacksonville recently. This event was initiated by the US Commercial Service and co-sponsored by Enterprise Florida’s International Trade Development division, to diversify and boost Florida’s economy.

“We felt is was appropriate for BLT, with a large presence in Africa and well established in the USA, to spotlight our distribution, warehousing and logistics advantages to African businessmen wanting to investigate and pursue opportunities for trade between the USA and the African continent,” says Ryan Mouritzen, vice president of BLT, USA. “These delegates from Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Guinea and Senegal, represented elite companies in diverse sectors, including freight forwarding, mining, transport, public works and construction, as well as capital equipment.

“The delegates’ objectives were to learn more about Jacksonville as a port city, to source and purchase trucks, cars and heavy equipment and to find out about the roll-on roll-off transportation capabilities at the Jacksonville Port Authority.

“Our visitors were impressed with BLT’s expertise in booking cargo onto African trade lane ships out of Jacksonville; the company’s ability to transload African cargo to containers in the BLT terminal and with the sound relationships BLT has established with African port of call vessels.

“We are encouraged by the enthusiastic feedback from our visitors and we are committed to working closely with these African businesses. We hope to facilitate their international transactions by way of equipment sales, cargo handling and containerization, to minimize ocean freight costs where applicable.”

Larry Bernaski, regional manager of International Business Development and the Enterprise Florida lead for this event, also commented that “Big Lift Trucks is strategically positioned to serve as a staging area for the exports generated through this event and that its logistics services and ability to modify cargo for containerization represent additional benefits in support of regional exports.”

“It should not be overlooked that several of the delegates expressed a keen interest in the material handling equipment offered by Big Lift Trucks and that these potential sales to western Africa represent an additional revenue stream for the company”.

BLT has over 40 years experience in logistics, warehousing, containerization, storage, breakdown support and container handling equipment. As a 3PL, the company offers ocean service rates and a logistics management facility.