Busy warehouses need durable and reliable trolleys and trucks to move goods to the shelves and carry items that have been ordered. There are many types and sizes of trucks and pallets available. To help choose the best ones for a particular use, it is useful to ask these questions to your truck and trolley manufacturer.
What are the load capacity and platform size of the flatbed trolley?
A platform trolley needs to cope with the size and weight of items likely to be stacked on it. The manufacturer will specify the maximum load that can be carried. For safety reasons, this load must not be exceeded.
If items are stacked too high on a flatbed trolley, they could be unstable. If you need a trolley to carry small items stacked high, a truck with sides is more suitable.
Is the trolley manoeuvrable?
Trolleys need to be steered easily, especially if they are pulled or pushed along narrow aisles with tight corners. A good trolley will have two fixed wheels and two swivel wheels. These need to be high-quality, strong and easy to move.
What is the trolley made of?
The strongest trolleys are made from tubular steel that is shaped, cut and welded. Tubular steel is ideal because it is both strong and lightweight. The steel is powder-coated to prevent corrosion. The trolley platform also needs to be strong. For some items, a nonslip platform is better.
What size do I need?
Truck and trolley manufacturers make standard size trucks suitable for most warehouses. They can make equipment to custom sizes, though there is a limit on how long the trolley can be before it becomes difficult to steer.
Do I need the bonus features?
For many applications, a simple flatbed trolley is sufficient, but there are features that can be added to a trolley. A clipboard can be attached to the trolley to hold paperwork like picking lists. This means that the operator can have two hands on the trolley and still read the picking list.
Retractable steps can be fixed to trolleys so that operators can reach high-stored items.
Tote boxes to store small products are useful, either loose or attached to trolleys.
Is the trolley ergonomically designed?
The handle of the trolley need to be at a height so that the operator does not have to bend over or stretch to reach it. If workers are unusually short or tall, the trolley manufacture can provide trolleys with lower or higher handles.
Do I need a trolley with sides?
Trolleys with sides are suitable for carrying stacked items or picking boxes. They usually have two or three high sides and an open, or reduced side to enable items to be easily put in and taken out of the trolley.
Shelves can be added to the trolleys. Tote boxes are useful for small items. These are usually placed loosely on the trolley but can be fixed to a picking trolley.
Does the trolley need to be folded?
Most warehouses use their trolleys every day, but sometimes trolleys are kept in reserve for busy periods like Christmas when more trolleys are needed. If space is restricted, folding trolleys are useful so they can be stowed away when not needed.
Do I need different types of trucks and trolleys?
Many warehouses have a wide variety of goods of various shapes, sizes and weights. No one truck or trolley is suitable for all tasks. Large heavy boxes need box trolleys, while awkwardly shaped heavy items like sofas require specialist trolleys that can transport two sofas at a time. Window manufacturers use A-frame trolleys designed to carry large sheets of glass, and chair makers want trolleys that can transport stacked chairs.
A truck and trolley manufacturer will supply customised manual handling equipment adapted for specialist use.
Can you design bespoke equipment?
Sometimes, it’s useful to have a bespoke designed solution for storing and moving products. A good British truck and trolley manufacturer will manufacture its equipment in-house. They will have designers/engineers who can modify designs. Invite them to visit your warehosue to assess your exact requirements so that trucks and trolleys can be designed to your specifications?
What other equipment can you supply?
A truck and trolley manufacture will not be restricted to only supplying trolleys. They will also manufacture the likes of shelving, racking and packing tables. If you are equipping a new warehouse or re-organising an existing one, a truck and trolley manufacturer will be able to supply most of what is needed, apart from motorised vehicles like forklifts.
The manufacturer can also advise on the warehouse design, the best place to locate shelves, packing stations and other areas.
To make a warehouse more efficient, warehouse management software is useful. The equipment manufacturer will not supply software applications, but may recommend a company that does.
Do I need to train my staff in using trucks and trolleys?
Trucks and trolleys are simple to operate – they are simply pushed or pulled – but this doesn’t mean that operators need no training. Manually handling of goods has injury risks. Muscles can be strained, and collisions can happen.
On the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website, there is a section on pushing and pulling and how to do this safely. Staff need training in the correct procedure to lift heavy items and how to avoid twisting the body when carrying heavy loads.
A detailed risk assessment of all warehouse manual handling operations has to be carried out, with full safety training provided for all workers.
What about security?
The cost of replacing trucks and trolleys in a warehouse is expensive. The chances of trolleys being stolen may be low, but it is worth considering using steel cables and padlocks to secure trolleys that are left unattended.
Truck and trolley manufacturers supply equipment for small to large warehouses. They manufacturer trucks and trolleys to high standards that are designed to do the work they were designed for, and to last a long time.
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