It is quite key for some companies to examine the process of selecting a lift truck. For instance, will your business choose always the same unit for your dock work or warehouse? If this is so, you might be missing out on a more effective forklift. There could be different other units on the market which allow more to get accomplished because they offer less exhaustion to operators. You might be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more cost-effective way. By doing some research and evaluation, you can determine if you have the best machinery to suit your needs. By reducing operator exhaustion, you can significantly increase your performance.
Several of the important factors to consider when determining forklift models that deal with specific problems include:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't require an expensive forklift to accomplish tasks if your shipping and receiving department loads just a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week. An inexpensive walkie-rider or walkie unit will be able to deal with the task if: You do not need to stack loads inside the trailer, and a 4500 to 6000 pound capacity is adequate. 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 since 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 may make more sense over a walkie model or a walkie-rider. These battery-powered forklifts easily fit into a standard 108 inch trailer door. Their masts enable in-trailer stacking. These kinds of forklifts offer a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 lbs.
Operator Duties:
For material handling requirements, each business has a slightly different system. Some lift truck operators would often unload and load goods in the shipping department in addition to storing objects on inventory racks, replenish the manufacturing line, handle the paperwork associated with the loads, scan and attach bar codes and other tasks. Usually, the forklift operators who are constantly on and off of their lift trucks in their shifts find it less fatiguing and much faster to exit a stand-up control unit, as opposed to a sit down kind.