Safety and Efficiency: The Two Main Goals Of A Forklift Battery Charging Station  Whether building a new warehouse or distribution center or expanding an existing one, you will make many safety-minded decisions. Aside from structural concerns, fall protections, and safe work zones, your battery charging station requires thoughtful attention. How and where you charge lead-acid forklift batteries is critical for efficient and secure operations. The following is an overview of design tips from the Apex experts to help you understand the spatial and safety requirements to power up your forkli ..read more

Boost Loading Dock Safety with These Easy, Make-Sense Steps Industry data reveals that 25% of industrial accidents happen at the loading dock. It’s no wonder why – this bustling hub is the epicenter of warehouse activity, where your team juggles processing, shipping, receiving, and load inspections. Meanwhile, forklifts and pallet jacks navigate through the same limited space, adding to the complexity of operations. Implementing a loading dock safety plan isn’t an option; it’s a necessity, and we’ve got 12 easy to implement tips to help you manage it.  A Comprehensive Approach to Loading ..read more

Learn When Long-term Forklift Rentals Are the Clear Winner Over Leasing or Buying A forklift is a pricey piece of equipment to purchase, and depending on your company’s cash position, there may be better places to park your capital funds. Long-term forklift rentals offer an option that preserves capital and provides both financial and operational flexibility.  Many facility managers think of forklift rental as a short-term thing, useful for seasonal capacity bumps, short-term surges, or temporary fill-ins for other forklifts being serviced. However, there are some operational and financia ..read more

Get Your Team Up To Speed In A Flash with These Forklift Operator Skills In today’s tight labor market, finding people with the right forklift operator skills can be challenging. Operating a forklift in a crowded, busy warehouse sometimes requires nerves of steel, the patience of Job, and the ability to think on your feet. While ideally, you want to hire someone with years of forklift experience, in reality, you’re often faced with hiring someone with little to no experience. In that case, you must judge their ability to acquire the right forklift operator skills. In this blog, we’ll identify ..read more

Your Application Will Determine The Proper Choice of Indoor Forklift Tires Your forklift’s tires are literally where the rubber meets the road. It’s one of the components of your forklift that experiences the greatest amount of wear and tear, and proper selection–as well as maintenance–can also significantly affect the efficiency and, thereby, cost-effectiveness of your forklift.  This is the first in a two-part series that explores forklift tire selection for both indoor and outdoor forklifts.  Forklift tires come in two basic flavors: cushion and pneumatic. For the lion’s share of ..read more

Use These Steps to Maximize the Return on your Forklift Fleet Investment Your forklift fleet represents a large percentage of the overall capital outlay of your facility, as well as a substantial portion of your building’s operating expenses. Managing the efficiency of such a significant cost center is imperative to improving the profitability of your warehouse, distribution center, or manufacturing operation. Whether you run a small fleet or an army of hundreds of forklifts, these tips will help maximize your return on investment and keep operating costs low. 1. Maintain Your Forklifts Regula ..read more

Learn How to Right-Size Your Forklift Forks & Select The Right Extensions If you’re moving the same standard 48-in. pallets day in and day out, you probably don’t need to concern yourself with forklift fork length; your OEM 42-in. forks will work just fine. But once you move out of that comfort zone, say your distribution center starts handling import pallets or even non-palletized loads, you need to pay attention to forklift length.  Sizing Up Forklift Forks Too Long Forks that are too long for the load you are transporting present several safety hazards. Forks sticking out beyond th ..read more

Stand-up Forklift Operators Must Be Aware of Forklift Under-ride –Their Lives Could Depend On It Generally, the safety protocols for sit-down and stand-up forklifts are pretty similar, with one major exception. The open-back design common to a stand-up forklift can pose a deadly risk when traveling in reverse with the forks trailing and near storage racking. The risk is that the operator could accidentally back into the rack and become pinned in the operator compartment. This condition is known as forklift under-ride.  Over the past twenty years, at least 10 stand-up forklift operators h ..read more

Three-wheel and Four-wheel Forklifts Both Have Specific Advantages Should I buy three-wheel or  four-wheel forklifts? It’s one of the many decisions forklift buyers are faced with. Are you looking for a forklift for a high-density distribution center or construction site delivering building materials? There are clear-cut cases where one type makes more sense than the other. Let’s take a look at them from an application standpoint.  BYD ECB 3-wheel Electric Forklift Forklifts Maneuverability/Portability  Here, the winner is the three-wheel forklift. These models are generally s ..read more

You’ve Decided to Buy Electric Forklifts. What’s Next? You’re buying an electric forklift. You may have ruled out an internal combustion (IC) forklift for various reasons, like fuel costs, conditions in your facility that prevent you from using an IC forklift, desire for a “greener operation,” or looking for a forklift that requires less maintenance. Battery-operated electric forklifts check almost all of those boxes. But some electric forklifts check off more boxes than others. What Kind of Battery? The first and primary decision you’ll face in buying an electric forklift is: Do I go with a l ..read more