Fleet managers can significantly reduce fleet management costs by investing in a hydraulic battery lifter. A lifter reduces worker injury, improves productivity and enhances fleet reliability.

Reduced Worker Injuries

Batteries are not only heavy, they are deceptively heavy. Even experienced maintenance crews can underestimate the weight of the power cell being removed from a forklift. If the worker is in the wrong position when lifting batteries by hand, a strained muscle that will keep the worker out for days is inevitable. Another danger comes from a dropped battery, which could injure someone's foot or spray acid on bystanders.

A hydraulic battery lifter allows workers to service forklifts safely. With all the weight taken by the machine, workers are not exposed to potential strain injuries, nor are technicians expected to twist their bodies into unnatural positions to get the power packs out. Batteries are held securely and safely, both during the lift and during transport to the charging station, eliminating the chance of injuries from dropped units.

Improved Productivity

Taking out batteries by hand is slow. It takes time for workers to safely lift a unit out of a forklift and carry it to the storage and recharging area, and then more time to return with a newly charged cell. This is time the forklift is out of commission, and the forklift driver is standing around not getting any work done.

Battery lifters operate much more quickly than manual methods. The power cell can be pulled from a forklift in a fraction of the time as doing it by hand, and a freshly charged cell can be inserted just as fast. This means less downtime for each forklift, and more time in active service translates to more work being done with fewer resources.

Enhanced Fleet Reliability

Proper maintenance of forklifts and batteries extends their life, thus reducing equipment costs. With inefficient manual methods, managers are tempted to extend maintenance intervals to minimize downtime. While this may improve productivity in the short run, it also reduces power cell life and leads to more frequent vehicle repairs.

Converting to fast and easy-to-use battery lifters makes it easier for fleet managers to stick to optimal maintenance schedules. Maintenance downtime is so short there is no incentive to run forklifts until the batteries are completely discharged. Observing maintenance and charging schedules keeps batteries in service longer and reduces equipment costs.

Battery lifters are an essential part of fleet support, whether your organization has one forklift or hundreds. Their ability to immediately reduce company liability, increase production and cut equipment purchase and maintenance costs means they pay for themselves in no time. If your fleet isn't being serviced by a battery lifter, then buy one as soon as possible.