It is quite important for several businesses to examine the process of selecting a lift truck. Like for example, would your business select consistently the same unit for your warehouse or dock work? If this is so, you could be missing out on a more effective forklift. There can be other units available on the market that provide less exhaustion to operators and enable more to get accomplished. You may be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more cost-effective manner. By doing some evaluation and research, you can determine if you have the right machine to meet all your needs. By reducing operator fatigue, you could drastically increase your performance.
Several of the important factors to think about when determining forklift models that address particular problems include:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't need an expensive forklift to accomplish jobs if your shipping and receiving department loads only a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week. A cheaper walkie model or walkie-rider would be able to deal with the job if: You do not need to stack loads in the trailer, and a 4500 to 6000 pound capacity is sufficient. Lastly, you should think about whether or not the transition from the dock floor to the dock leveler and into the trailer is not too jarring for the operator because the small load wheels must travel over the dock plate.
If your shipping facility is consistently loading trailers on the other hand, a stand-up end control model could make more sense over a walkie model or a walkie-rider. These battery-powered forklifts fit into a standard 108 inch trailer door without difficulty. Their masts allow in-trailer stacking. These forklifts offer a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 pounds.
Operator Duties:
Every business has a slightly different system for material handling. In some circumstances, some forklift operators not only load trucks in the shipping department, but store inventory on racks, replenish the manufacturing line, handle the paperwork connected with the cargo, attach and scan bar codes and other jobs. Usually, the forklift operators who are always on and off of their forklifts in their shifts find it less fatiguing and much faster to exit a stand-up control model, rather than a sit down kind.