Sometimes, it pays to examine the method of choosing a forklift. Like for example, does your company always select the same units for your dock work? If so, you could potentially miss out on a more efficient truck. There might be various other units on the market which offer less fatigue to operators and enable more to get done. You may be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more cost-effective manner. By doing some evaluation and research, you could determine if you have the right equipment to suit all your requirements. By reducing operator fatigue, you could significantly increase your performance.
When determining forklift models that deal with your particular issues some of the important factors to think about could include:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
If your shipping department just loads out a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week, then you probably won't require an expensive forklift to complete the tasks. A less expensive walkie unit or walkie-rider would be able to handle the job if: You are not required to stack loads inside the trailer, and a 4500 to 6000 pound capacity is adequate. 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 must travel over the dock plate.
If your shipping facility is consistently loading trailers on the other hand, a stand-up end control unit could 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 allow in-trailer stacking. These 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 normally unload and load products in the shipping department as well as storing items on inventory racks, replenish the manufacturing line, handle the paperwork associated with the loads, scan and attach 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 faster and less tiring to exit a stand-up control model, as opposed to a sit down kind.