There are times it pays to examine the process of choosing a lift truck. For instance, does your company consistently select the same units for your dock work? If so, you could potentially miss out on a more effective truck. There can be different other units on the market which enable more to get done as they offer less fatigue to operators. You may be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more cost-effective way. By doing some evaluation and research, you can determine if you have the right machine to suit all your requirements. By reducing operator fatigue, you can significantly increase your performance.
When determining forklift units which deal with your particular concerns several of the important factors to consider could include:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't need an expensive lift truck to accomplish tasks if your shipping and receiving department loads just a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week. An inexpensive walkie unit or walkie-rider would 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 to the dock leveler from the dock floor and into the trailer is not too jarring for the operator since the small load wheels must 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 kinds of forklifts offer a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 pounds.
Operator Duties:
Every company has a slightly different system for material handling. In certain circumstances, some forklift operators not only load trucks in the shipping department, but replenish the manufacturing line, store inventory on racks, handle the paperwork connected with the cargo, attach and scan bar codes and other tasks. Generally, the forklift operators who are constantly on and off of their lift trucks in their shifts find it a lot quicker and less fatiguing to exit a stand-up control model, rather than a sit down kind.