Managing your forklift fleet

The perfect cube arrangement has changed the way warehouses typically move inventory. In the past, almost all trucks were fully loaded with palletized inventory. Due to increases in freight costs, manufacturers have been seeking ways to maximize cubic foot efficiency.

A new trend is occurring more manufacturers are beginning to floor load up their merchandise. Floor loading merchandise allows manufacturers to increase the density of each outbound full truckload shipment. Because of this, regular pallet jacks do not work well in this type of environment.

You need a clamp truck, efficiently unload these trailer units. Clamp trucks work by grabbing directly around the boxes as opposed to sticking forks underneath in the pallet. By minimizing the use of pallets waste material is minimized as well.

If you're going to buy a forklift truck, you may want to consider financing your purchase. Financing the forklift allows you to spread out the cost over the useful life of the machinery. This gives you benefits by allowing you to leave this off of your balance sheet as well.

Forklifts and pallet jack trucks can be purchased new, or refurbished through a third-party broker. If you wish to save cash, you may want to consider contacting companies directly. Find larger companies with high inventory turnovers, if you are looking for a potential good deal on a used forklift truck.

Keep in mind that when you are looking for used forklift's, make sure you perform a full inspection before you finalize your purchase. Pallet jack trucks are subject to a lot of abuse, and wear and tear in a warehouse environment. Make sure that you obtain all service records as well. A good preventative maintenance log can give you an indication as to whether or not the forklift truck was properly maintained.

Proper maintenance is essential for extending the life of your pallet jack equipment. Certain items such as pallet jack wheels, hydraulic units, and bearing seals will meet inspection and applicable replacement on a fairly regular basis. You can perform this as in-house maintenance, or you can outsource this function to a third-party preventative maintenance firm. Using an outside firm for PM work may be necessary if your current warehouse staff does not have the experience to work on forklift repair. If you do decide to perform your own maintenance, you can purchase pallet jack parts right over the Internet.