It is quite important for some businesses to examine the process of selecting a lift truck. For instance, would your business choose always the same unit for your warehouse or dock work? If this is so, you might be missing out on a more effective forklift. There may be different other units available on the market that offer less exhaustion to operators and enable more to get done. You may be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more effective way. By doing some research and evaluation, you can determine if you have the right machinery to suit all your needs. By reducing operator fatigue, you can drastically increase your performance.
When determining forklift units that address your specific issues some of the key factors to consider could comprise:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
If your shipping department only loads out a few box trucks or semi-trailers per week, then you probably won't need a pricey lift truck to complete the job. A cheaper walkie-rider or walkie model would be able to deal with the job if: You are not required to stack loads inside the trailer, and a 4500 to 6000 lb. capacity is adequate. Last but not least, you must think about whether or not the transition to the dock leveler from the dock floor and into the trailer is not too jarring for the operator since the small load wheels need to travel over the dock plate.
If on the other hand, your shipping facility is always loading trailers, than a stand-up end control would make more sense over a walkie-rider or a walkie model. These battery-powered forklifts easily fit into a standard 108 inch trailer door. Their masts enable in-trailer stacking. These forklifts provide a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 lbs.
Operator Duties:
For material handling requirements, every business has a slightly different system. Some forklift operators will often load and unload products in the shipping department as well as storing items on inventory racks, replenish the manufacturing line, handle the paperwork associated with the loads, attach and scan bar codes and other jobs. Normally, the forklift operators who are always on and off of their lift trucks in their shifts find it less fatiguing and much quicker to exit a stand-up control unit, as opposed to a sit down type.