It is quite key for some businesses to examine the process of selecting a forklift. For example, will your company select always the same model for your warehouse or dock work? If this is so, you could be missing out on a more efficient forklift. There could be other models on the market that allow more to get accomplished because they provide less exhaustion to operators. You might be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more effective way. By doing some evaluation and research, you can determine if you have the best equipment to suit all your needs. By reducing operator fatigue, you could drastically increase your performance.
When determining forklift models which deal with your specific concerns some of the important factors to consider may comprise:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
If your shipping department only loads out a few box trucks or semi-trailers a week, then you probably won't need an expensive lift truck to accomplish the job. An inexpensive walkie unit or walkie-rider would be able to handle the job if: A 4500 to 6000 pound capacity is enough and you do not need to stack loads inside the trailer. Lastly, you must consider whether or not the transition from the dock floor to the dock leveler and into the trailer is not too jarring for the operator as the small load wheels must travel over the dock plate.
If on the other hand, your shipping facility is consistently 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 offer a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 pounds.
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 replenish the manufacturing line, store inventory on racks, handle the paperwork associated with the loads, attach and scan bar codes and other tasks. Generally, the forklift operators who are constantly on and off of their forklifts in their shifts find it less tiring and much faster to exit a stand-up control unit, as opposed to a sit down type.