There are times it pays to examine the method of selecting a forklift. For instance, does your company consistently choose the same units for your dock work? If so, you can potentially miss out on a more effective truck. There could be various other units on the market which provide less exhaustion to operators and allow more to get accomplished. You may be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more effective manner. By doing some evaluation and research, you can determine if you have the right equipment to meet your requirements. By reducing operator fatigue, you can significantly increase your performance.
When determining forklift units that address your particular issues some of the key factors to think about could comprise:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't require an expensive forklift to accomplish jobs if your shipping and receiving department loads just a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week. A cheaper walkie unit or walkie-rider will be able to deal with the task if: A 4500 to 6000 pound capacity is adequate and you are not required to stack loads in the trailer. 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 should travel over the dock plate.
If your shipping facility is consistently loading trailers however, a stand-up end control model could make more sense over a walkie model or a walkie-rider. These battery-powered forklifts fit into a standard 108 inch trailer door easily. Their masts allow in-trailer stacking. These types of forklifts offer a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 lbs.
Operator Duties:
For material handling needs, each business has a slightly different system. Several lift truck operators will normally load and unload goods in the shipping department in addition to storing items on inventory racks, replenish the manufacturing line, handle the paperwork associated with the loads, attach and scan bar codes and other tasks. Usually, 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 unit, as opposed to a sit down type.