Over the course of the last decade, there has been a growing stream of laws enacted on the forklift industry that limits the level of gas emissions coming from their motors. These various regulations stem from every level of government, from the local to the federal. The wisdom of these regulations is nothing we wish to touch upon in this blog. The practical issue at hand is one that is a lot more important to the everyday forklift operator: cost benefit. Simply put, as emissions standards increase, vehicle and forklift manufacturers are forced to invest in R & D in order to comply with those standards. As a result, the price of the product spirals upwards for the everyday consumer.
Come January 1, 2013, another emissions cap is set to be put into law. Namely, Tier 4 non-road diesel emissions standards for engines generating up to 560kW will be increased. These kinds of engines (commonly found on forklifts) will now be required to emit a mere 5.0 in terms of carbon monoxide (CO) – with an ideal target of 3.7 for emissions. The price to get your engine certified will be costly enough, but spending money on newer, costlier engines that already comply with these emissions standards is enough to make some people want to go out a buy one for themselves before the law comes into full effect.
On that note, DW Lift Sales offers a wide variety of heavy-duty, tough-performing forklift models that are a bargain deal – especially when considering what’s coming your way 2013. Don’t let new price increases spoil your New Year’s. Get in on purchasing our gear before more regulations hit the (engine) fan.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
How to Keep Your Truck Truckin’: Some Long-Term Strategies and Tips
Whether you drive a local delivery truck that operates within the jurisdiction of a few counties, or whether you’re an interstate trucker who rides it for the long-haul, the fact is that you’re going to be burning through a lot of mileage in no time at all. Additionally, if you’ve had the commonsense to buy or to rent a cost-effective truck that’s still operable, but that’s got a good chunk of miles to its name already, then proper maintenance of your truck’s engine is – if anything – even more important. What’s the point in investing in something as critical as a freight truck if you aren’t able to maintain it properly? On that note, we at DW Lift Sales would like to impart to you a few accumulated bits of truck maintenance wisdom we’ve picked up over the years.
Rule 1: Don’t Over-Rev
Revving your engine beyond the RPM limits prescribed by your engine parameters is a sure recipe for adding to engine wear-and-tear. If anything, invrease your engine torque ratings while you drive. This will not only help keep your engine from overheating in the long-run, but it will improve on fuel efficiency as well.
Rule 2: Don’t Speed
We know that life on the road can get a little dull sometimes, and there’s the added fact that you’ve got a destination and a deadline to meet. But don’t overdo it on the speeding. Driving at around 60 mph leaves your truck operating at 40% of its horsepower capacity, which is a great long-term, preventative strategy for keeping your engine running smoothly and efficiently.
Rule 3: Pre-Trip Inspection
Don’t ever find yourself in a position where you’re on the road when you first notice a problem in your engine. Most if not all problems can be spotted prior to hitting the highway. It may take around 30 minutes to examine all the necessary details, but you need to check for proper engine oil and coolant levels, make sure the air brake tank is fully drained, and the brakes are checked for the right level of pressurization.
Rule 4: Follow the Proper Maintenance Schedule
Unlike keeping clear of chocolates, or following your New Year’s resolution all the way through to December 31st, truck maintenance schedules aren’t things to be taken lightly. Make certain your rig gets inspected at the exact, scheduled time – so technicians can make sure that no nasty surprises have cropped up since last you had a check-up. Every year you have to go into your doctor for a physical. The same thing goes for your truck, albeit the physical exam almost always happens (a lot) more than just once a year!
Rule 5: Special Rule for Diesel Trucks
In the case of diesel-powered big rigs, prepare to adapt to a different style of engine and a different style of “playing”. Beyond the fact that diesel fuel costs considerably more than good old petroleum, you’re going to have to make sure to carry bottles of diesel treatment with you in your cab. At each filling, be sure to add a full bottle of this diesel treatment into the mix, so that the overall muckiness of diesel oil doesn’t infiltrate your engine in any harmful way. Diesel additive keeps things nice and pure and on the level.
Just a few, friendly 101 tips from the folks at DW Lift Sales!
Rule 1: Don’t Over-Rev
Revving your engine beyond the RPM limits prescribed by your engine parameters is a sure recipe for adding to engine wear-and-tear. If anything, invrease your engine torque ratings while you drive. This will not only help keep your engine from overheating in the long-run, but it will improve on fuel efficiency as well.
Rule 2: Don’t Speed
We know that life on the road can get a little dull sometimes, and there’s the added fact that you’ve got a destination and a deadline to meet. But don’t overdo it on the speeding. Driving at around 60 mph leaves your truck operating at 40% of its horsepower capacity, which is a great long-term, preventative strategy for keeping your engine running smoothly and efficiently.
Rule 3: Pre-Trip Inspection
Don’t ever find yourself in a position where you’re on the road when you first notice a problem in your engine. Most if not all problems can be spotted prior to hitting the highway. It may take around 30 minutes to examine all the necessary details, but you need to check for proper engine oil and coolant levels, make sure the air brake tank is fully drained, and the brakes are checked for the right level of pressurization.
Rule 4: Follow the Proper Maintenance Schedule
Unlike keeping clear of chocolates, or following your New Year’s resolution all the way through to December 31st, truck maintenance schedules aren’t things to be taken lightly. Make certain your rig gets inspected at the exact, scheduled time – so technicians can make sure that no nasty surprises have cropped up since last you had a check-up. Every year you have to go into your doctor for a physical. The same thing goes for your truck, albeit the physical exam almost always happens (a lot) more than just once a year!
Rule 5: Special Rule for Diesel Trucks
In the case of diesel-powered big rigs, prepare to adapt to a different style of engine and a different style of “playing”. Beyond the fact that diesel fuel costs considerably more than good old petroleum, you’re going to have to make sure to carry bottles of diesel treatment with you in your cab. At each filling, be sure to add a full bottle of this diesel treatment into the mix, so that the overall muckiness of diesel oil doesn’t infiltrate your engine in any harmful way. Diesel additive keeps things nice and pure and on the level.
Just a few, friendly 101 tips from the folks at DW Lift Sales!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Delivering – and Maintaining – Effective Forklift Safety
Let’s face it: the daily and nightly grind inside a lot of warehouses in America – and across the world – can be punishing. The work-shifts can run late, the shift boss might not be your favorite pal on Earth, and the finesse required to maneuver among stacks of crates, boxes, and pallets can be more than a little bit aggravating and tiresome. But a job’s a job, right? When it comes right down to it, you’ve got to make sure you’re doing it well, and that brings up the important issue of proper safety. Two of the most important areas involved in the safe operation of a forklift include following proper procedures during loading and unloading operations, and unnecessary speeding.
To the expert fork lifter, loading and unloading operations may feel like second-nature, but to those just starting out at a new warehouse, there’s oftentimes a lot to be mastered. Raising or lowering the forks while a forklift is moving, or trying to take on a load that’s too heavy or bulky, or carrying a particularly heavy item on a down-ramp or up-ramp – all of these contribute to the kinds of accidents that occur in a typical warehouse, and all of them can result in the overturning of forklifts. According to OSHA, 25% of all warehouse deaths in North America can be traced to forklifts overturning. It’s a serious business you’re helping to run, and it can’t be stressed enough that paying close attention to details is an essential.
Another factor that leads to all kinds of forklift accidents is the problem of speeding. Speeding on a forklift through a tight-packed warehouse is a different animal entirely than speeding along an empty, open highway. While both might be illegal (and dangerous), one of them carries far more potential for harm than the other. Drive slowly and carefully when operating in a warehouse, making sure you have a clear line of vision while driving, and be sure to slow down at cross aisles and sound the horn to alert other traffic that you’re coming through the intersection. Be sure to wear a seatbelt if such is provided, and never let someone else ride on your forklift if an actual seat isn’t provided for them to sit on.
We know it’s a tough job, but hey, if you’re a fork lifter, you’re probably a pretty tough guy or gal yourself. We’re just making sure you keep safe in there, same as anyone who had respect for the profession.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Flatbeds Help the Real Estate Market Find Its Legs Again
When the Great Recession struck in 2007, there wasn’t an industry in America (besides big banks) that took a harder punch than the real estate market. The “Housing Bubble” became – overnight – a household word. It’s been a long several years now since those days of sudden economic collapse, and the nation is still struggling to rekindle its economy, the real estate sector included. But while growth remains slow, the signs point towards a gradual improvement for even the housing and commercial real estate market – and for the flatbed and dry van industry that means a corresponding uptick in business opportunities.
Flatbeds continue to be an integral part of the transportation of construction materials. Without the volume that flatbeds can carry, there would simply have been no cost-effective means of developing the sprawling suburbs and exurbs that surround most North American cities. But the housing market is just the “tip of the opportunity” for truckers and big rig companies. Despite June and July’s slow manufacturing growth (in comparison with the earlier months of this year), manufacturing orders are up considerably from just a year ago. While we’re certainly not out of the woods yet as a country, the numbers show that the growing need for trucking jobs in America attests to an overall spirit of optimism and recovery. Here’s to making it over the mountain.
Flatbeds continue to be an integral part of the transportation of construction materials. Without the volume that flatbeds can carry, there would simply have been no cost-effective means of developing the sprawling suburbs and exurbs that surround most North American cities. But the housing market is just the “tip of the opportunity” for truckers and big rig companies. Despite June and July’s slow manufacturing growth (in comparison with the earlier months of this year), manufacturing orders are up considerably from just a year ago. While we’re certainly not out of the woods yet as a country, the numbers show that the growing need for trucking jobs in America attests to an overall spirit of optimism and recovery. Here’s to making it over the mountain.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Breaking Our Dependence on Middle East Oil
Even a few years back, a headline like this would have just been wishful thinking. There’s been talk since at least the OPEC Oil Crisis of 1973 about freeing America from its addiction to foreign fossil fuels. But it hasn’t been an issue that any administration – including the current one – has been willing to fully dedicate itself to. The funny thing is, the problem of curbing our foreign oil consumption may no longer be merely a political issue with a political solution. With the ongoing development of technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, deepwater oil drilling, natural gas, and even photovoltaic energy fuel cells, our automotive and trucking industries – and all other such industries dependent on exports from the Persian Gulf and the like – may very well have a strategy that allows us to eliminate our dependency on foreign oil altogether. Politics may have very little to do with it any longer.
Examples abound of oil deposits that are to be found nowhere near the volatile Middle East. The Bakken Shale Oil Deposit in North Dakota is perhaps the most obvious example of a new American oil renaissance. Since the large-scale discovery of shale oil in North Dakota, the state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 5%, the smallest in the nation. In fact, there’s an ongoing and desperate need for new jobs in the small towns dotting the western North Dakotan plains. The counter-workers at a local McDonald’s in the heart of shale oil country work are paid $20/hour; the counter itself is maintained 24 hours/day.
This is only the most obvious, domestic solution to foreign oil dependency. Huge offshore oil fields have been discovered not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but off the Brazilian coastline as well. With companies already in a much-contested bidding war for these resources, it seems likely that the stakes are high and the profits will indeed be profitable. Likewise, the tar sands of Alberta, Canada are another strong source of “local” oil that will undermine Arab efforts at cornering the oil market. Finally, the proliferation of natural gas and bio-fuels (recently legislation has been passed throughout North America that makes natural gas a viable and regulated source of energy for cars and trucks), as well as the slow but steady development of photovoltaic fuel cells attest to an ultimate break from our long-time dependency.
Estimates indicate that the US will halve its reliance on Middle East oil by as early as 2025. If the new energy policies bear full fruit, that 2025 number can be expected to become reduced to almost 0% by 2035. In terms of history, that’s basically just around the corner from today’s times. Let’s hope that cheaper fuel prices come as a result!
Examples abound of oil deposits that are to be found nowhere near the volatile Middle East. The Bakken Shale Oil Deposit in North Dakota is perhaps the most obvious example of a new American oil renaissance. Since the large-scale discovery of shale oil in North Dakota, the state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 5%, the smallest in the nation. In fact, there’s an ongoing and desperate need for new jobs in the small towns dotting the western North Dakotan plains. The counter-workers at a local McDonald’s in the heart of shale oil country work are paid $20/hour; the counter itself is maintained 24 hours/day.
This is only the most obvious, domestic solution to foreign oil dependency. Huge offshore oil fields have been discovered not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but off the Brazilian coastline as well. With companies already in a much-contested bidding war for these resources, it seems likely that the stakes are high and the profits will indeed be profitable. Likewise, the tar sands of Alberta, Canada are another strong source of “local” oil that will undermine Arab efforts at cornering the oil market. Finally, the proliferation of natural gas and bio-fuels (recently legislation has been passed throughout North America that makes natural gas a viable and regulated source of energy for cars and trucks), as well as the slow but steady development of photovoltaic fuel cells attest to an ultimate break from our long-time dependency.
Estimates indicate that the US will halve its reliance on Middle East oil by as early as 2025. If the new energy policies bear full fruit, that 2025 number can be expected to become reduced to almost 0% by 2035. In terms of history, that’s basically just around the corner from today’s times. Let’s hope that cheaper fuel prices come as a result!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Trucking: About as All-American as It Gets
There’s that old quip from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” Surely that must have in part been the logic behind the tiny town of Walcott, IA and its building of what many call “The World’s Largest Truck-Stop” along Interstate Highway 80. During the truck stop’s decades of operation, this otherwise unremarkable farming town in the American Heartland has become something of a pilgrimage place for dedicated overland truckers. Recently, the Iowa 80 Truckstop celebrated 33 years of being in business – and the locals of eastern Iowa showed up in droves to share in the excitement. As can be seen in this photo-essay by Kari Collins, the “33rd Annual Truckers’ Jamboree,” a festival celebrating the American industry that keeps other American industries up and running, there’s something about the Iowa 80 Truckstop that resonates deeply for an American.
What started out humbly as a rest-stop along Interstate 80 has developed into a travel center that supports all the services a trucker most needs. Beyond the usual gas/food/lodging, a dentist has set up shop there. There’s a movie theater which shows mainstream blockbuster movies. There’s a showering facility for those who aren’t planning on spending the night in Walcott, but nevertheless want a breather from the open road. And – of course – there’s the iconic Truckers’ Jamboree itself, where all things trucker are held up to the light and celebrated. In a country that doesn’t fully understand or appreciate the long, thankless hours it takes to be a trucker, or to run a successful trucking company, it’s nice to see some unabashed “big rig spirit.”
What started out humbly as a rest-stop along Interstate 80 has developed into a travel center that supports all the services a trucker most needs. Beyond the usual gas/food/lodging, a dentist has set up shop there. There’s a movie theater which shows mainstream blockbuster movies. There’s a showering facility for those who aren’t planning on spending the night in Walcott, but nevertheless want a breather from the open road. And – of course – there’s the iconic Truckers’ Jamboree itself, where all things trucker are held up to the light and celebrated. In a country that doesn’t fully understand or appreciate the long, thankless hours it takes to be a trucker, or to run a successful trucking company, it’s nice to see some unabashed “big rig spirit.”
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Coming Soon: New Princeton Forklifts at D.W. Lift Sales!
In an industry where ruggedness and sheer hydraulic strength are the norm and not the exception, Princeton forklifts are frequently considered to go above and beyond in those categories. Industry experts agree that Princeton’s forklift models are conducive to outdoor materials handling jobs, largely on account of their combination of brute strength and versatile maneuverability. Often seen in use at rubble-strewn construction sites, mining pits, or in lumber camps in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, these tough-driving monsters know little in the way of terrain they can’t navigate.
While D.W. Lift Sales frequently boasts its fair share of Princetons, we are happy to announce that very soon, we will be featuring even more. We have entered into an agreement with a company that currently leases them (they have their own contract where they use them on behalf of a larger company). Once the company’s lease ends, these forklifts will end up in D.W. Sales lots throughout the country. We anticipate nine to ten different models, available as early as mid-April.
Easily lifted onto a flatbed truck, a Princeton forklift is the ideal platform for getting a tough job done efficiently and without unnecessary strain. Heavy construction, mining, and lumber are all tough acts to follow, let alone thrive in. Princeton forklifts almost make it look easy.
While D.W. Lift Sales frequently boasts its fair share of Princetons, we are happy to announce that very soon, we will be featuring even more. We have entered into an agreement with a company that currently leases them (they have their own contract where they use them on behalf of a larger company). Once the company’s lease ends, these forklifts will end up in D.W. Sales lots throughout the country. We anticipate nine to ten different models, available as early as mid-April.
Easily lifted onto a flatbed truck, a Princeton forklift is the ideal platform for getting a tough job done efficiently and without unnecessary strain. Heavy construction, mining, and lumber are all tough acts to follow, let alone thrive in. Princeton forklifts almost make it look easy.
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