The Hyster Fortis is a lift-truck line from Hyster, and the video below was filmed at a Fortis assembly plant. Hyster is the American materials-handling company founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1929 and now part of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling. No Wikipedia article covers the Fortis itself, so this page describes the company and the range behind it.
Hyster Fortis at a glance
| Maker | Hyster Company, Portland, Oregon |
|---|---|
| Type | lift-truck line |
| Line | Fortis |
| Video | Fortis lift truck assembly plant |
| Company founded | 1929, as the Willamette-Ersted Company |
| Owner from 1989 | NACCO Industries |
| Owner from 2012 | Hyster-Yale Materials Handling |
| Name origin | from the loggers’ call ‘hoist ’er’ |
| Plants | Illinois, the Netherlands, China, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Northern Ireland, South Africa |
| Engineering department | Irvine, Scotland |
No Wikipedia article covers the Hyster Fortis: the facts here come from the English Wikipedia article on Hyster Company, a single source, together with the video title.
History of the Hyster Fortis
Fortis at the assembly plant
The video below was filmed at a Hyster Fortis lift truck assembly plant and follows the line where the trucks are put together. Hyster is an American manufacturing company specialising in forklifts and other materials-handling equipment, and the Fortis belongs to that lift-truck side of the business rather than to the compaction machinery the firm was also known for.
1929: a name from the logging trade
Hyster was founded in 1929 as the Willamette-Ersted Company in Portland, Oregon. According to the Hyster Company web page, the name comes from a phrase used by loggers in the Pacific Northwest at the end of the nineteenth century; when a load of lumber was ready to be transported a logger would yell ‘hoist ’er’, and the term became synonymous with Hyster trucks. The home office has remained in Portland.
Where the trucks are built, and who owns the company
Production has been spread across Berea, Danville, Peoria and Kewanee in Illinois, the Netherlands, China, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and South Africa, with a specialist engineering department in Irvine, Scotland. NACCO Industries bought Hyster in 1989 and made it part of NACCO Materials Handling Group; in 2012 the materials-handling business was spun off as Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc., which continues to market products under the Hyster brand.
Design and features
- Fortis line: one of the lift-truck families sold under the Hyster name.
- Assembly plant: the video below shows how the trucks are built.
- Worldwide production: plants in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.
- Global support: distribution organised around five world regions.
- Wider company range: Hyster also built compaction machinery, road-rollers and logging winches.
Hyster Fortis versions
- Hyster Fortis: the line covered on this page.
- Assembly-plant film: the production line shown in the video below.
- H series: the H-prefix trucks covered by the Hyster H series page.
- S series: the S-prefix trucks covered by the Hyster S series page.
The Fortis sits alongside the H-prefix and S-prefix trucks covered by the H series and S series pages. All Hyster trucks are in the Hyster collection.
Video: Hyster Fortis Lift Truck Assembly Plant
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Hyster Company, English Wikipedia: company history, ownership, plants, name origin
