BY TOBY B. GOOLEY, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

FORKLIFTS

Material Handling

EVERY WAREHOUSE AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER (DC) seeks to optimize the size of its forklift fleet to ensure it has enough trucks to meet its operational requirements while keeping the cost of ownership to a minimum. One way to work toward that goal is to buy or lease forklifts that can perform different types of work rather than maintain separate vehicles for different applications. An increasingly common example is what you might call “free-range” forklifts: equipment that can be used both inside and outside a building.

In addition to cost, there are other reasons to choose lift trucks that can operate indoors and out. They boost productivity for certain types of businesses—like those that must load or unload trailers from the ground rather than from a dock, for retailers like convenience stores that bring pallet jacks in and out of stores, for manufacturers that store large items outdoors and bring them inside to feed into production lines, and for freight handling facilities where lift trucks are regularly exposed to the elements. Harmonizing engine and model types helps make service and maintenance easier and more efficient. And sometimes, a smaller operation simply doesn’t have space to park a lot of forklifts.

In the right circumstances, a double-duty approach can be an effective strategy. But not every lift truck is appropriate for both indoor and outdoor use. If you’re thinking about using an existing sit-down counterbalanced lift truck in both environments or are looking for a new one that could go either way, here are some considerations to keep in mind.

Tires. Tires play an outsized role in determining where a lift truck can safely travel. That’s because outdoor surfaces that are full of rocks, bumps, ruts, or debris can damage tires and make a truck and its load unstable. Even a paved parking lot that’s pocked with potholes could cause trouble, observes Mark Faiman, internal combustion product manager for Toyota Material Handling U.S.A., the U.S. distributor for Toyota forklifts.

The two most common types of forklift tires are pneumatic and cushion. Pneumatics, with deep treads for gripping uneven terrain, are typically used outdoors. They’re large enough to raise the forklift chassis so it clears rough ground, but their size also results in a fairly wide turning radius. They are available either in solid rubber or filled with compressed air, like automobile tires. Both are rugged and reliable, but solid pneumatics won’t go flat, so they’re