DC Velocity - January 2017

limited to certain specialized applications, as not all customers would realize a favorable return on investment, he says. That could soon change: Several of our sources predicted that in the next one to three years, the price of lithium-ion batteries will come down enough to make them more widely accepted for pallet trucks.

Onboard technology is helping pallet trucks become complex machines with an array of sophisticated capabilities. Just a few examples cited by the experts we contacted include technology that automatically slows the unit during cornering for better control and load stability, software that forces pallet trucks to travel with elevated forks, and onboard diagnostics and displays that provide feedback on truck and battery performance directly to the operator. Another example: Toyota offers an operator keypad that allows up to 10 unique operator logins. Each operator login can have its own maximum speed and acceleration settings, customizing the pallet truck for operators with different skill levels or for different operating areas within a facility.

Telematics solutions, which wirelessly send data and instructions to and from lift trucks, are incorporating electric pallet trucks into the industrial Internet of Things. Just as the technology has done for fleets of larger forklifts, telematics systems such as Raymond’s i Warehouse, Yale Vision, Hyster’s Tracker, and others are opening up a trove of previously unavailable data about pallet trucks. For example, Crown Equipment Corp.’s InfoLink, which is available on all of its electric pallet trucks, “provides customers with information to make better business decisions and improve the bottom line, particularly around asset utilization, safety, and productivity,” says Steve Harshbarger, the company’s marketing product manager.

Pallet trucks are also pioneers in the
robotics revolution. Crown’s semiauto-
mated QuickPick Remote, controlled by a
wireless signal transmitted from a special
glove, follows alongside an operator, elim-
inating the need for the worker to step on
and off and boosting picking productivi-
ty. Raymond’s Courier, Yale’s “Driven by
Yale Group. Fuel cells are gaining
momentum as the fueling options
and infrastructure catch up to the
fuel cell technology itself, he says,
while lithium-ion batteries are mak-
ing headway, in part because they
offer “a very attractive economic
return on investment.” The lithi-
um-ion pack on Hyster’s W45ZHD
walkie, for example, has a lifespan
of five-plus years, lasting up to five
times longer than traditional bat-
tery solutions, he says.

McNeill believes lithium-ion bat-
teries are well suited for DSD oper-
ations. For one thing, they can be
opportunity-charged from a stan-
dard 120V outlet, whether in the
trailer while en route or at a delivery
site. For another, they are smaller
and lighter than lead-acid batteries,
making them a good fit for pallet
trucks that must maneuver in tight
spaces like delivery trailers, store
aisles, and doorways, he says.

Martin Brenneman, electric product planning specialist at Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc., reports that Toyota is seeing the most interest in lithium-ion among customers using smaller pallet trucks, and several are using this type of battery in 4,500-pound-ca- pacity equipment. But they are still