BY JAMES A. COOKE, EDITOR AT LARGE
LIFT TRUCK FLEET MANAGEMENT
strategicinsight
Our exclusive survey shows
that lift truck fleet managers
are making a stab at
gathering performance data
on their vehicles. But they’re
not always making good use
of the info they collect.
by the
numbers
(sometimes)
THIS FALL, HARDWARE DISTRIBUTOR EMERY-WATERHOUSE
plans to abandon paper record-keeping on the forklifts at its Portland,
Maine, warehouse in favor of outfitting the trucks with electronic data
recorders. The reason? The distributor wants to take a more scientific
approach to vehicle replacement in its fleet of 20 or so electric forklifts.
“The data recorders will give us statistics on usage and engine perform-
ance,” says Mark Maloney, Emery-Waterhouse’s director of operations.
“The software will tell us when the cost per usage is rising and you
should replace the truck.”
While the benefits of a data-driven approach might seem obvious, it
turns out that Emery-Waterhouse is more the exception than the rule
when it comes to its approach to fleet management. A recent DC
VELOCITY reader survey found that only a quarter of the respondents have
adopted a formal fleet management program. Fleet management pro-
grams typically track key data, such as hours of use and repair records,
for each vehicle in a fleet. This information helps managers optimize
truck usage and determine the economic tipping point at which it
becomes more cost effective to buy a new truck than repair the old one.
The respondents’ go-slow approach runs counter to the advice of lift-truck dealers and independent third parties, both of which advocate the
use of fleet management programs. With a formal fleet management
