It is quite key for some businesses to examine the process of selecting a forklift. For example, will your company choose consistently the same model for your dock work or warehouse? If this is so, you could be missing out on a more effective forklift. There can be various other models available on the market that allow more to get done as they offer less exhaustion to operators. 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 best machinery to suit your needs. By reducing operator exhaustion, you can drastically increase your performance.
Some of the key factors to think about when determining forklift units that deal with specific concerns comprise:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't need an expensive lift truck to complete jobs if your shipping and receiving department loads only a few semi-trailers or box trucks per week. A less expensive walkie model or walkie-rider would be able to handle the task if: You do not need to stack loads in the trailer, and a 4500 to 6000 lb. capacity is sufficient. 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 need to travel over the dock plate.
If on the other hand, your shipping facility is always loading trailers, than a stand-up end control will 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 provide a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 pounds.
Operator Duties:
For material handling needs, each company has a slightly different system. Several forklift operators will often load and unload goods in the shipping department as well as storing objects on inventory racks, replenish the manufacturing line, handle the paperwork associated with the loads, attach and scan bar codes and other jobs. Usually, the forklift operators who are constantly on and off of their lift trucks during their shifts find it less fatiguing and much faster to exit a stand-up control model, as opposed to a sit down kind.