It is quite important for some companies to examine the process of choosing a forklift. Like for instance, would your company select always the same model for your dock work or warehouse? If this is so, you might be missing out on a more efficient forklift. There may be other models on the market which provide less fatigue to operators and enable more to get done. You might 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 meet all your requirements. By reducing operator exhaustion, you can drastically increase your performance.
When determining forklift models that address your particular concerns several of the key factors to think about could comprise:
Trailer Loading Frequency:
You probably won't need a pricey forklift to complete jobs if your shipping and receiving department loads just a few box trucks or semi-trailers a week. A cheaper walkie-rider or walkie model will be able to handle the job if: A 4500 to 6000 lb. capacity is enough and you are not required to stack loads inside the trailer. Last of all, you need 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 will make more sense over a walkie model or a walkie-rider. These battery-powered forklifts easily fit into a standard 108 inch trailer door. Their masts enable in-trailer stacking. These types of forklifts provide a model capacity range from 3000 to 4000 lbs.
Operator Duties:
Each company has a slightly different system for material handling. In some circumstances, several forklift operators not only load trucks in the shipping department, but store inventory on racks, replenish the manufacturing line, handle the paperwork connected with the loads, attach and scan bar codes and other jobs. Generally, the forklift operators who are always on and off of their forklifts in their shifts find it less fatiguing and much faster to exit a stand-up control unit, rather than a sit down kind.