Know the available range of forklift equipment to make sure you are prepared

Being efficient in your operations is about making sure that your team has what they need to perform their work safely and quickly. A forklift is a necessity in any yard or loading area, and making sure you have the right forklift equipment will save you time and trouble in the end. A base forklift cannot do it all; trying to use a base model for everything can put your safety record at risk and slow down operations. Here is an overview of the types of equipment available for your site.

Order pickers

Order pickers are a necessity, even if the height of your stock isn't exceeding average shoulder reach. These are chain driven extended fork systems that are integrated into an attached rack. It is better to use an order picker than plain forks as they are constructed to take into account the effect of weight at height, reducing safety concerns.

Lifting cages

Lifting cages are a must-have for dealing with small items. While they may come boxed and wrapped, the packaging usually falls apart. These wire style cages have a solid bottom with receiving slots for the forks so you can lift items easily. It can also be a good choice if you need to lift up working material. You can fill the cage, or just use it as a safety cage for lifting individual items. Lifting cages are not designed to be used as work platforms. Work platforms are specific to their intended use.

Work platforms

Work platforms are available for forklifts. These platforms are designed to meet current safety standards and regulations to allow workers to use the forklift as a scaffold platform. Make sure you are aware of all the additional requirements for use, such as fall equipment and training. Check with both state and local safety offices for which regulations apply to their use, and what activities are permitted from the work platform.

Roll Carriers

Roll carriers can work for anything from pipes to carpets. They allow you to safely load and transport long rolls. There are also specially designed roll carries for lifts with higher reach extensions. These can be essential to speeding up your operations. While just about every forklift operator has devised their own way of carrying rolls, the time spend jerry-rigging regular forks to carry the load safely means time lost in operations. Better to invest in the forklift equipment designed to do the job right so you don't lose time on the floor just getting things to work.

Extensions and more

Fork extensions are one of the most common types of forklift equipment to have on hand. Even if you don't think that you need them, having an extended fork pair is something you will be glad you invested in. Other common accessories that should be in your tool box include tool boxes, safety nets and cargo strapping devices. There are also some chain fall cages designed for use with forklifts that can come in handy. You should also invest in some safety posters and books to make sure your personnel stay up to date on safe operations and maintenance protocols.

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Make Every Job Easier With a Forklift Ramp

There has never been a trailer truck worth of material that couldn’t be unloaded faster with the help of a forklift. Likewise, manually loading a truck can take a small army of men. With a forklift, however, one or two can often get the job done and in much less time. So it makes sense that most companies out there that need trailer trucks to thrive should also feel the same way about forklifts. Then, by extension, a forklift ramp should be their next investment.

It Will Save Your Time

A forklift can only do so much without the ramp to help it. At best, you could drive the product right up to the truck and then use workers to load it. What will inevitably happen, though, is that you’ll simply wind up with a collection of product and a group of workers struggling to get it all in the truck while maintaining a sufficient level of safety.

With a ramp, however, that forklift can go right into the trailer truck with all of the product it can hold, drop it off, and then return for more. The amount of time you’ll save is exponential. Plus, without a ramp, that forklift is never getting inside the truck, making unloading it next to impossible.

While it’s great to save time, you have to consider how much money this will save you, too. Faster transitions mean less time spent paying more employees to get the job done. Given how affordable a forklift ramp is to begin with, you’ll make the money back in no time.

A Versatile Choice

Forklift ramps are generally adjustable, which makes them extremely helpful if your company deals with more than one trucking company or type of truck. You’ll never have to worry about your ramp not being able to touch the back of the truck or otherwise overshooting it. Adjust the ramp as necessary and get to work.

Plus, these ramps are extremely mobile. That’s one of the reasons they make so much sense for companies that may use multiple trucks. If your loading bay gets backed up, move the forklift ramp to whatever truck is next and start unloading as necessary. Again, this could save your company a lot of money in the long run.

Easy to Use and Low Maintenance

There is no doubt that forklift ramps will be a game changer for any company that uses one. Unlike a number of other solutions that bring big results, this one doesn’t have high-tech specs or need a thick instruction manual. Ramps are very basic tools, and their use, even with a forklift, is highly intuitive. That means anyone on your staff who can already drive a forklift can now leverage the ramp to get even better results.

So if you want to save time and money while preserving your company’s safety record, you probably already know how important a forklift is. However, if you want even more from this fantastic machine, consider what forklift ramps can do.  


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