Sometimes, it pays to examine the process of selecting a lift truck. For example, does your company always select the same models for your dock work? If so, you can potentially miss out on a more effective truck. There can be various other units on the market which provide less fatigue to operators and allow more to get done. You might be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more cost-effective manner. By doing some research and evaluation, you could determine if you have the right equipment to suit all your requirements. By reducing operator exhaustion, you can drastically increase your performance.
When determining forklift models which deal with your specific issues several of the key factors to consider could consist of:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't need a pricey lift truck to complete tasks if your shipping and receiving department loads only a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week. A cheaper walkie-rider or walkie model will be able to deal with the job if: A 4500 to 6000 pound capacity is adequate and you do not need to stack loads in the trailer. Last of all, you need to 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 your shipping facility is consistently loading trailers on the other hand, 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 without difficulty. Their masts enable in-trailer stacking. These types of forklifts provide a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 lbs.
Operator Duties:
Every company 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 loads, 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 a lot quicker and less tiring to exit a stand-up control model, rather than a sit down type.