Pallet Jack: Essential Tool For The Distribution, Transport & Warehousing Business
A pallet jack (variously called pallet truck, pump truck, or jigger) is a tool that has a variety of uses and is a key element for inventory control and warehouse management. It has found wide use in the retail, distribution, warehousing, and transport businesses, wherever there are goods and materials that need to be moved from place to place.
This article covers the following topics:
• Introduction – pallet jacks as movers of a palletized economy
• Types of pallet jacks – manual or powered
• Benefits of a pallet jack for your business
• Pallet jacks for the transportation and distribution industry
• Working safely with pallet trucks
The Pallet jack: The Mover Of A ‘Palletized’ Economy
Pallet jacks can save precious man-hours and labor for a wide range of businesses that use pallets for movement and storage of goods. This allows businesses to cut down personnel costs, and existing employees could spend more time on their core tasks and responsibilities. Pallet jacks are suitable even for small business, as they are considered as a cost-effective, versatile, and user-friendly alternative to similar but costlier equipment such as forklifts.
Businesses using pallets for loading and unloading can achieve reduced costs for handling and storage because of faster material movement. It is estimated that there are about 2 billion pallets currently in use across different industries in the US. Whenever pallet movement is required, it is done by the use of a pallet jack or a forklift.
Manual or powered pallet jack;jack accessories
Manual or hand-operated and hand-pulled pallet jacks are commonly found in stores. Manual pallet jackshave no power mechanism to propel themselves; they require human labor for movement. They have a hydraulic lever that is jacked to lift a pallet off the floor. Manual pallet jacks are generally designed for lighter loads.
On the other hand, powered or electric pallet jacks have a motor to allow the lifting and moving of heavier and stacked pallets. They usually have a platform where the operator could stand while moving pallets. Forward or reverse movement is controlled by a throttle on the handle, while steering is achieved by moving the handle in the desired direction.
An electric pallet jack is most suitable for lifting and moving heavy stacks, but its cost could be prohibitive to small business. Employees who work with powered jacks may need specialized training to safely operate them.
Manual jacks are usually preferred because of their ease of use, low price (can be as cheap as $100 and no more than $500), and smaller size and ease of maneuverability. Small to medium businesses and warehouses caneven afford to deploy more than one pallet jack.
Add-ons and special construction allow pallet jacks to be used for a variety of applications:
• Low profile jacks – can get under pallets where standard jacks can’t
• Corrosion resistant – suitable for use in the food industry, in temperature-controlled environments, or pharmaceutical applications where metal contamination is not tolerated
• Scale equipped – comes with a weighing scale to verify and monitor freight weight while on the move
• Four-way jack – offers increased maneuverability in tight spaces, allows pallets to be picked up on stringers
• Electric pallet jack –requires much less human labor and offers portable power
• Lift jacks – allows transport and higher lifting of pallets (for stacking)
• Outdoor pallet jacks – all-terrain jacks suitable for use in construction sites, lumber yards, nurseries, or on rough and uneven surfaces
• Lift and tilt jacks –used to transport, lift, and tilt pallets and crates
• Drum pallet jacks – fitted with specialized forks for the transport and lifting of drums and cylindrical containers
• Special jacks –for handling drums, rolls, reels, furniture, and other special materials
• Jack accessories – includes adaptors, caddies, and stops
Would your business benefit from a pallet jack?
Using a pallet jack could mean a more streamlined work flow, increased efficiency, and raised productivity in different organizations. Consider the following when thinking about integrating pallet jacks to your work practices:
• If you have cause to move a stack of goods from one place to another (such as for delivery or dispatch), pallet jacks can deliver increased productivity and faster performance by allowing material movement in larger quantities and shorter time frame.
• Even if the goods that need to be moved are light and fairly small, the workforce can benefit from a pallet jack by making it less strenuous to move materials. This can reduce the incidence of back problems in the workforce, which has a huge impact on business – according to a publication of the US National Institutes of Health, back pain in workers 40 to 65 years of age costs employers an estimated $7.4 billion per year in lost productive time.
• An electric pallet jack allows for movement of even heavier loads of stacked goods at even shorter timeframes than manual jacks. Faster materials handling increases productivity and financial gains. Employees who will operate electric jacks need special training, but this relatively small cost assures proper and safe handling of equipment, which is beneficial in the long run.
Pallet jack benefits for a transport or distribution company
Pallet trucks can greatly reduce the time needed to move heavy and cumbersome goods in industrial units. This is of immense importance to the transport and distribution industries, whose operations revolve around the transfer of goods from one destination to another. Both freight volume and movement can be increased by integrating pallet jacks in the workflow.
Working with pallet jacks safely
As mentioned, electric jacks require specialized training for its operators. However, working with eithermanual or electric pallet jackbothpresent problems for operators, such as backing into walls, running over their own feet, bumping into other employees, being struck by falling load, etc. Here are tips to help mitigate such risks:
• Avoiding moving loads up or down ramps.
• Using protective gear (helmet, goggles, steel toe boots, etc.) when operating a pallet jack.
• Not overloading the truck.
• Making sure the load is stable; centering the forks evenly under the load for balance.
• Pulling rather than pushing loads for better maneuverability.
• Maneuvering loads in the neutral position to reduce operator fatigue.
• Not allowing any riders.
• Operating at controllable speed, especially when the pallet jack has no brakes.
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