When you start looking to buy a forklift, one of the first things you will notice are the different tire types that are available. Pneumatic and cushion tires are the two most common, and those tire types are often used as a dividing line for the forklifts used in certain operations (along with fuel type) If your business operates a lot outdoors, then you may want to take a look at this post explaining pneumatic tires and why they are beneficial. But if you work mostly indoors, then cushion tires are made for you. To put it simply, cushion tires are made of a smooth rubber that is fitted around a metal band, great for indoor applications. The following are some of the major benefits of cushion tires.

Advantages of Cushion Tire Forklifts: Great for Smooth Surface Applications

Cushion tires are designed specifically to work great on smooth surfaces, and the hard outer surface is designed to reduce chipping on the wheels. Cushion tires also contain more rubber, allowing for a safer, more comfortable ride for the operator. This extra rubber will also allow for a longer service life. But, using these types of tires outside on uneven terrain could cause early chipping, and could be a safety hazard due to the reduced traction of the cushion tires. While it is alright for you to use it on smooth asphalt outdoors, we recommend you limit the time you use them outside.

Advantages of Cushion Tire Forklifts: More Maneuverability

Another reason cushion tires are great for indoor applications is that they allow for a more maneuverable forklift. They are able to fit a smaller forklift frame, and have a lower ground clearance. When you operate in a warehouse, having a smaller forklift is important when it comes to making the most of your space. This allows you to navigate narrower aisles, and keep your racking closer together. The more space you have for racking, the more product you can hold in your warehouse.

Advantages of Cushion Tire Forklifts: Cost-Effective

Because cushion tires require less materials to produce, it is less expensive for companies to manufacture them. This is good for you, because they are usually cheaper than pneumatic tires. Another way cushion tires help you save money is by being easier to maintain. By making sure your warehouse floors are clear of debris, and not driving your forklift over tough terrain, you can help your cushion tires last.

Make sure you do some research, and really look into all of the different uses the forklift could get in order to make an informed decision. Once you choose a specific forklift and its tire type, I highly recommended against changing tire type on your forklift (and it’s often impossible to do so).

Original Post:  Lucas Collom, Digital Projects Administrator, Toyota Material Handling, USA

Using forklifts effectively in any application requires assessing how they will work in concert with the other elements of your facility. From understanding your dock capabilities to making sure pallet racks and forklifts match up appropriately, a successful facility takes into account every touchpoint of forklifts in use.

An easy to overlook touchpoint that requires attention is facility flooring. Too often, operations that use forklifts experience unexpected damage to both product and equipment because floors become damaged. In this post, I’ll discuss some of the impacts of damaged floors on equipment and personnel, help identify some trouble areas on concrete floors, and discuss possible solutions to damaged flooring.

Concrete Floors and Forklift Ergonomics

The thing about forklifts? They’re aren’t equipped with the suspension system of a luxury SUV. When you roll over a bump while driving a forklift, you’re going to feel it. And while Toyota forklifts are ergonomically designed for operators’ optimal comfort, a floor that’s fallen into disrepair will place stress and strain on an operators’ body. Maintaining a floor inspection schedule is key to preventing damage. But if you’re an operator and you see or feel floor damage, make sure your report it.

Concrete Floors and Forklift or Product Damage

Most forklifts that operate indoors will have cushion tires, and cushion tires are not manufactured to withstand uneven terrain. Uneven terrain includes flooring surfaces where chunks of floor are missing or general rough patches are present. When you continually drive cushion tires on a damaged floor, you’re likely to shorten the intervals between necessary tire replacement, placing strain on the forklift and on your budget.

Damaged floors might also be hazardous for the products you’re moving. Not only will driving over damaged floors cause less than optimal work conditions for your operators, it increases the risk of product spills if items fall from pallets due to traveling over the uneven terrain. Even something as seemingly negligible as increased vibration of products on a pallet can damage certain types of materials. Making sure your floors receive optimal care helps protect your investment in the product.

An even bigger investment might be your forklifts; those capital investments need protection, too. Forklifts are designed to have a low center of gravity, so there are many points on a forklift such as under the mast and chassis where under clearance is minimal. If a clearance assessment was made prior to acquiring the forklift, this may have been done prior to any flooring damage. Should floors later become damaged, you might not have the necessary clearance, potentially increasing impacts on the forklift. Such sudden impacts caused by poor flooring conditions can also damage internal forklift components over time, potentially causing a forklift to become unstable.

One helpful preventive measure? Toyota’s T-matics solution can be installed on most Toyota equipment to monitor for impacts and assess where they occur. If there is damaged floor where impacts are occurring often, T-matics might be able to help you identify the problem.

Concrete Floors Inspection Tip: Check the Joints

Performing a regular visual inspection of your floors is highly recommended. One main problem area that requires frequent inspection are the joints between concrete slabs. Because these are inherent weak points in the floor and receive pull away pressure from the weight of forklifts, they are likely to be the first places that fall into disrepair from natural wear and tear. Replacing concrete joints when they become damaged might seem like a costly investment. However, the long-term ROI of less forklift repair and more efficient operations makes the investment worthwhile.

Concrete Floors and Friction

The condition of your concrete floors goes even beyond the damage that they undergo due to wear and tear. You must also consider how friction plays a role in several critical forklift functions. When floors are wet or slick due to spills or chemicals that are used, it reduces the friction of the tire surface with the ground. This can have a significant impact on a forklift’s ability to stop or accelerate effectively, which can be an eminent safety hazard. It is imperative that floor surfaces are cleaned properly and allowed to dry before attempting to drive over them. Ensuring that the floor is also free of debris and any obstructions will help to avoid potentially unsafe driving situations. Be sure to thoroughly read and understand your forklift’s operator manual for more information regarding proper floor conditions for your particular piece of equipment.

Whatever you plan strategically to make sure your floors stay in top condition, having an inspection plan in place is key to success. Material handling investments work hand in hand with facility investments, right from the ground up.

Original Post By:  Jake Stewart, Digital Copywriter, Toyota Material Handling, USA

Your business is growing and you either need to expand your current warehouse or build a new warehouse to support your growth. Sounds like a good problem to have! At least, until you have to decide what type of pallet racking system you need to install. In its simplest form, a pallet racking system is a material storage system. Pallet racking helps you stay organized within your warehouse and better manage you inventory. Choosing pallet racking, however, is not as simple as selecting a pallet rack brand and installing it. There several racking types that help you meet your needs. The type of racking you choose depends on a few criteria:

• How tall the racking needs to be
• What goods will be stored
• What the floor plan will be
• What type of inventory management system makes sense for your product and operation
• What types of forklifts you currently use or forklifts you intend to switch to

Types of Pallet Racking: Selective Racking

Selective racking systems are some of the most common and widely used racking systems, mainly because they are less expensive and easier to install than other, more specialized racking systems. Selective racking is great for warehouses that store a large amount of stock keeping units (SKUs). Selective pallet racking is usually a single-deep pallet rack. This type of racking makes any given pallet in the rack system accessible without having to move another pallet.

Types of Pallet Racking: Cantilever Racking

Cantilever Racking systems are used to store items that cannot be easily stored on pallets. Warehouses that use cantilever rack, usually store longer and heavier items to be stored horizontally across multiple arms (like lumber or steel pipes). Pallet racks, on the other hand, have vertical uprights that limit the length of stored items. This is the primary difference between cantilever racking and pallet racking.

Types of Pallet Racking: Pallet Flow Racking

Pallet flow racking systems are also referred to as “gravity flow” racking systems. Pallet flow racking systems are best suited for the first-in, first-out (FIFO) inventory management methodology. When you load a pallet from the loading aisle and onto the lane rollers, gravity allows the pallet to roll to the front of the system. When the pallet is removed from the front of the racking system, the pallets behind roll to the front of the lane. Pallet flow racking allows for high-density storage while maintaining FIFO. Some pallet flow racking systems may hold up to 20 pallets deep in one lane, minimizing the number of aisles needed to store items while maintaining efficient inventory turnover.

Types of Pallet Racking: Push Back Racking

Push back racking systems is another high density storage option, with the ability to store up to six pallets deep on either side of an aisle. There are usually three carts stacked on top of each other.  The first pallet is loaded from the front in a push back racking system and sits on the top cart. When the second pallet is loaded, it pushes the top cart with the first pallet back. Push back racking gives you higher density storage than selective racking systems, while allowing you more selectivity with storing items than other types of racking, meaning you can store more SKUs.

Types of Pallet Racking: Drive-In Racking

Drive-In racking systems are great for storing large volumes of just a few SKUs and can also be configured to manage inventory with FIFO or last-in, first-out (LIFO). With drive-in racking, the forklift literally drives into the racking system to move a pallet. This type of pallet racking system is cost effective by maximizing the amount of storage space in your warehouse.

Choosing between these types of racking systems will depend on the various goals of your operation and the relevant inventory data like volume and throughput. No matter your decision, always be sure that this racking is installed safely and effectively to increase productivity.  Dillon Toyota Lift's Warehouse Solutions team is here to help from start to finish.  

Original post by:  Kenny Trusnik, Marketing Systems & eCommerce Specialist, Toyota Material Handling, USA

You’ve got enough paper in your life. Paper you send to suppliers. Paper you send to customers. Monitoring your forklift usage and efficiency shouldn’t require additional stacks of paper. A Vehicle Management System (VMS), like the Toyota T-Matics option can help eliminate paper, keep you organized, and save a few trees in the process. Here are a few ways that you can use T-Matics to go paperless.

Certification and License Expiration Tracking with T-Matics:

Letting licenses and certifications lapse can be a major problem. If you’re tracking these expirations on paper, in a log, or relying on your own or someone else’s memory, you’re setting yourself up to fail. T-Matics COMMAND allows users to enter a date of expiration on the forklift certification of an operator. COMMAND alerts you when it’s time for renewed licensing and training. You can make use of this ability with both established operators and short-term temps. Also, because T-Matics monitors things like impacts, it can help you identify when re-training and certification is necessary.

Operator Historical Data:

The paper associated with tracking operator successes and missteps can be cumbersome, and often falls through the cracks. As an operator, it can be easy to get frustrated if there isn’t a clear measure of how good you really are at your job that is clearly established in writing. As a manager, keeping track of successes is difficult, especially since so much time can be spent on drawing up paperwork to document accidents and impacts.

With a VMS, both of these pain points are eliminated, making everyone happy with their work environment. If you’re a successful operator, your safe practices and focused approach to your job are documented by clear data that illustrates your forklift usage efficiency and lack of impacts on the lift. If you’re a manager, you can reward your best operators, understand who will give you the best ROI during their shifts, and identify those associates who need to shape up in terms of usage and practice.

Preventative Maintenance Made Easy and Efficient:

Trying to schedule preventive maintenance on paper is a hard task. What if you miss the date on your calendar? Worse, what if you haven’t used the lift as much as you expected when that date comes and you don’t need maintenance yet? Or what if you’ve used it more, and need maintenance before the scheduled date?

With T-Matics, computer software keeps track of time and hour usage. It then relays an automatic request for scheduled maintenance to your local Toyota dealer. No more paper scheduling, lengthy phone calls discussing timing, or missteps in maintenance intervals. Using this function can be an important step in maintaining your lifts’ uptime.

Daily Equipment Checklist:

Paper checklists are a mess to file. It’s annoying to find a hard surface to write on. And time is wasted trying to find the right office supplies to make it happen. A VMS like Toyota’s T-Matics makes this system automated and files all of these reports electronically. No more paper. Simple.

I like that VMS systems offer all of these great advantages for your company when used effectively. But it also doesn’t hurt that you can get the reputation of an environmentally conscience company with a clear understanding of your responsibility to the planet. That’s a powerful message for a whole lot of clients and customers. Going paperless with T-Matics helps you win and keep on winning.

Written by:  Linley Kullman, Telematics Support Administrator, Toyota Material Handling, USA

Toyota recently launched an Integrated Fork Scale to help businesses streamline their processes. Have you wondered if the expense is worth it for your particular business? Here are four questions to help determine if you could benefit from an integrated fork scale in your fleet.

1. Do you spend a lot of time moving pallets to a floor scale?

Let’s find out how much time you could save if you could get rid of one step in your process. Here’s a simple example: If it takes 1 minute to transport pallets to a floor scale to properly weigh them before loading or unloading and you do this 60 times a day, you could gain one hour of productivity by eliminating this step. Now do the math with your specific info. How much more efficient could you be with an integrated fork scale?

2. Do you spend a lot of time entering weight data in your Warehouse Management System, tablet, or handheld system?

If the answer is yes, here’s another step you could eliminate to save time and effort. Toyota’s Integrated Fork Scale features a Bluetooth-enabled option to seamlessly feed information to your devices. Again, do the math to find out how much productivity you could gain if you got rid of this step. Take that number and add it to the number above. Could you save a significant amount of time?

3. Do your drivers often perform back-of-truck checks on uneven floors or other poor surfaces?

If so, this might affect the accuracy of the weight check. The legal-for-Trade version of Toyota’s Integrated Fork Scale includes a correction sensing system designed to calculate weight, even when the load wheels are not level.

4. Have you held off considering a fork scale because of concern about moisture damaging the display or inside components?

Moisture and technology don’t often mix – unless you plan for it. Toyota’s Integrated Fork Scale features a cold storage option designed specifically for food storage applications.

We hope these questions help determine if you could benefit from an Integrated Fork Scale. For questions about our fork scale or any other product, contact Dillon Toyota Lift today.

Written By:  Samantha Horton, Content and Communications Consultant, Toyota Material Handling, USA

In less than 60 days new accounting rules will impact operations, and organizations whose finance and operations personnel are on the same page will benefit the most.  Selecting the right financing is just as important as choosing the right equipment.  No matter the fleet size, these changes will compel an even greater collaboration between those who cut the checks and those who rely on forklifts every day.  

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has approved changes to Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) 842, which affects operating leases.  On January 1, 2019, the Finance Accounting Standards Board's FASB13 will take effect.  FASB13 calls for every lease to be classified as either an operating lease or capital lease based on specific criteria. 

Currently, capital leases are reported on the balance sheet as an asset and liability.  Operating leases, however, are supposed to be footnoted on the balance sheet but are expensed on the income statement.  The new guidance generally stipulates that lessees will be required to recognize both Capital and Operating leases as assets and liabilities for leases with term of more than 12 months.  Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, all leases (capital and operating) will be required to be accounted for on the balance sheet as right-of-use (ROU) asset and lease liability on their balance sheet. * 

“This will have a couple of significant impacts to companies. First, having all leases on the balance sheet will give creditors greater visibility to total liabilities. Secondly, many companies did not require capital approval of off-balance-sheet acquisitions such as rentals and operating leases, which made it quicker and easier to obtain equipment.  The increased scrutiny associated with on-balance-sheet capital approvals may slow or restrict some companies’ equipment acquisition process, which makes it more important than ever for finance and operations to partner up,” Sue Rice says.  

Leasing is an increasingly popular means of controlling expenses and guaranteeing access to the latest technology.  The best way to keep finance and operations departments aligned is to use a data-driven approach to fleet management.  Data is becoming increasingly important in the material handling industry, which is why telematics systems are growing in popularity.  Toyota T-Matics MOBILE and T-Matics COMMAND deliver important insights about your forklift and operators.  T-Matics offers a solution that gives greater visibility to your fleet's performance.  Some of the features include fleet utilization/optimization, web-based dashboards & reporting, electronic hour meter collection, fully mobile, impact detection, etc.  Bottom line...What gets measured, gets managed.  

Still have questions?  Dillon Toyota Lift is here to help.  We can help determine what equipment and finance options are best for you in the long-term.  

*We encourage customers discuss these changes with their Accountants, Auditors and Creditors to better understand the effects these revisions may have on their business.

If you’ve heard an anecdote beginning with, “Well, so-and-so said. . .” you are likely not alone. Part of our human nature means relying on our gut instincts and, while trusting your gut is something to be proud of, doing so isn’t always appropriate. Ensuring operational efficiency and the long-term value and ROI of capital equipment such as forklifts means having a good handle on how that equipment is being used within your operation. You may have a strong hunch about how equipment is being operated, but backing up that intuition with solid data is always the way to go! A vehicle management system (VMS) is a way to make sure you’re getting the right data to help you take firm, decisive action.

Trust me, I know how overwhelming data management can seem. And the data you’ll receive from a VMS like Toyota’s T-Matics Command or T-Matics Mobile can be overwhelming – unless you establish a few clear goals right from the beginning.

I’ve found that setting up a few key goals is a great place to get started with T-Matics or any VMS. For forklift operators and managers, vehicle uptime is often the “true north” that ensures a high efficiency and ROI. Adding T-Matics to the forklifts in your fleet can help your Toyota technicians have a clearer understanding of your needs and to ensure that you have maximum uptime in your organization.

Fault Code Notifications

Fault code notifications managed via T-Matics Mobile give instant insight into forklift malfunctions to help you understand the cause behind your forklift’s breakdown. When sensors are able to discover potential problems before the affected forklift is inspected by your technicians, they’ll be better prepared by having the correct parts in hand right when they arrive, increasing their efficiency. First-time fix rate is also increased as diagnostics are constantly running in order to provide technicians the insight they need to be successful.

Planned Maintenance Intervals

The problem with calendar-based planned maintenance is its failure to show the actual needs of a forklift because it relies on ambiguous and historical understanding of usage and need. With a VMS like T-Matics, planned maintenance can be scheduled based on activity rather than on a predetermined calendar date, meaning you’ll get maintenance right when you need it.

Utilization Monitoring

When you capture data effectively, you can turn it around into information that can be handed over, clearly and accurately, to your technician. By painting a detailed picture of your forklift utilization to your technician, they will be better at anticipating any upcoming compilations and at using this information to perform accurate diagnostics on current and potential breakdowns. The more your technician knows about a forklift’s utilization, the better equipped they are to deliver the best services.

Peak Usage Monitoring

T-Matics data offers insights into when your forklifts are being used most often. Use this knowledge for improving operational efficiencies, especially since it will allow you to distinguish between login and motion hours. These insights can also give you and your technician a good understanding of when they should be working on your forklift so they don’t interrupt your operation. Planned maintenance and fixes of problems not leading to breakdown can be performed during slower periods of your operation.

Written by:  Linley Kullman, Telematics Support Administrator, Toyota Material Handling, USA