According to Sheffield Pottery’s
president, John Cowan, the company struggled with
conventional unloading methods. “Our delivery people had pallet jacks
to move loaded pallets to the end of the truck, but all it takes is one
little pebble or some sand on the floor -- or any kind of incline or
decline -- and one driver just can’t pull or push a pallet weighing
3,000 lbs. Even the power tailgates were not much help, says John, And
if the unloading area was gravel, it was near impossible to slide or
roll the pallets off the tailgate.
The
unloading process subjected drivers to a high risk of back injuries,
and contributed significantly to driver fatigue. In addition, delivery
schedules often took longer than necessary simply due to the facility
limitations of each customer. With delivery runs spanning several days,
each delay simply compounded the time invested on every run.
The
easiest solution to this unloading dilemma came to Sheffield Pottery in
the form of a specialized freight handling system that could be readily
retrofitted within the truck cargo body. The CargoMaster™ freight
handling system employed a simple overhead rail and hoist configuration
to safely unload (or load) cargo from anywhere on the truck bed to the
ground in a matter of seconds.
Sheffield
Pottery can now streamline pallet loading with little concern for
first-in, last-out staging. Drivers can stack and unstuck pallets
within the truck body using CargoMaster’s pallet fork attachment. With
a simple handheld control, drivers can lift a 4,000 lb pallet from the
back of truck body to the ground takes all of 30 seconds.
Company
drivers have become very attached to the new freight handling system.
Cowan says, ”The typical time necessary at a customer location has been
reduced to about 10 minutes compared to more than 45 minutes of hard
work when our product was unloaded by hand.” Cowan was also quick to
point out that the CargoMaster eliminated the need to put two men in
the truck. “And we have virtually eliminated driver fatigue and
injuries. We are now considering adding the CargoMaster to our 48-foot
trailers.”
“It’s awesome,” Cowan added. “One man ... one thumb ... 4,000 pounds ... right on the ground ... and see you later.”
|
