Sometimes, it pays to examine the method of choosing a forklift. Like for instance, does your business consistently select the same units for your dock work? If so, you could potentially miss out on a more efficient truck. There can be other units on the market that allow more to get accomplished as they provide less exhaustion to operators. You may be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more cost-effective manner. By doing some research and evaluation, you can determine if you have the right equipment to meet all your needs. By reducing operator fatigue, you could drastically increase your performance.
Some of the key factors to think about when determining forklift units that deal with particular problems consist of:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't need an expensive lift truck to complete jobs if your shipping and receiving department loads only a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week. An inexpensive walkie model or walkie-rider would be able to deal with the job if: A 4500 to 6000 pound capacity is sufficient and you are not required to stack loads inside the trailer. Last but not least, you need to 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 need to travel over the dock plate.
If your shipping facility is always loading trailers on the other hand, a stand-up end control unit may 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 pounds.
Operator Duties:
For material handling needs, every company has a slightly different system. Several forklift operators will usually load and unload products in the shipping department along with storing items on inventory racks, handle the paperwork associated with the loads, replenish the manufacturing line, attach and scan bar codes and other jobs. Generally, the forklift operators who are always on and off of their forklifts in their shifts find it less fatiguing and a lot quicker to exit a stand-up control model, as opposed to a sit down kind.