There are times it pays to examine the method of selecting a lift truck. For instance, does your company consistently choose the same models for your dock work? If so, you can potentially miss out on a more effective truck. There could be various other models on the market that allow more to get accomplished because they provide less fatigue to operators. You may be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more effective manner. By doing some research and evaluation, you can determine if you have the best machinery to meet your needs. By reducing operator exhaustion, you could significantly increase your performance.
Several of the important factors to think about when determining forklift units which deal with specific concerns include:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
If your shipping department only loads out a few box trucks or semi-trailers a week, then you probably won't require a pricey forklift to accomplish the tasks. An inexpensive walkie model or walkie-rider would be able to handle 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 consider 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 need to travel over the dock plate.
If your shipping facility is always loading trailers however, a stand-up end control model could make more sense over a walkie-rider or a walkie model. These battery-powered forklifts fit into a standard 108 inch trailer door easily. Their masts allow in-trailer stacking. These forklifts provide a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 lbs.
Operator Duties:
Every business has a slightly different system for material handling. In some circumstances, some forklift operators not just 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 tasks. Generally, the forklift operators who are constantly on and off of their lift trucks in their shifts find it a lot faster and less fatiguing to exit a stand-up control unit, as opposed to a sit down kind.