It is quite key for some companies to examine the process of choosing a lift truck. Like for example, would 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 effective forklift. There may be various other units on the market that offer less fatigue to operators and enable more to get accomplished. You might be able to take advantage of loading trailers in a more effective way. By doing some research and evaluation, you can determine if you have the best equipment to meet your needs. By reducing operator fatigue, you could significantly increase your performance.
When determining forklift models which address your particular problems some of the important factors to think about may comprise:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't require a pricey lift truck to complete tasks if your shipping and receiving department loads just a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week. An inexpensive walkie model or walkie-rider would be able to handle the task if: A 4500 to 6000 lb. capacity is enough and you do not need to stack loads inside the trailer. Last of all, you have 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 should 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 fit into a standard 108 inch trailer door with no trouble. Their masts enable in-trailer stacking. These types of forklifts offer a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 lbs.
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 store inventory on racks, replenish the manufacturing line, handle the paperwork associated with the cargo, attach and scan bar codes and other tasks. Usually, the forklift operators who are constantly on and off of their forklifts in their shifts find it less fatiguing and much quicker to exit a stand-up control model, rather than a sit down type.