Equipment downtime is your operation’s worst enemy. Just like a car or house, a forklift requires maintenance and repairs after you purchase it. Taking a reactive approach to maintaining your forklifts can be accompanied by uncertainty and unexpected periods where forklifts are out of service. This can interrupt work flows that need to run smoothly for your business to succeed.

This is why many companies that use forklifts opt for a routine maintenance plan. The two most commonly used maintenance plans in the material handling business are planned maintenance agreements and full maintenance agreements (also referred to as guaranteed maintenance). Both plans are designed to maintain equipment uptime, be proactive on potential repairs before breakdown, and ultimately save you money in the long-run. But is the difference between a planned maintenance agreement and full maintenance agreement? We break that down right here for you.

Proactive with Planned Maintenance

Detailed inspections. Recommended repairs. Flexible billing. Tailor-made schedule. In my experience at a Toyota forklift dealership, these were expectations that come with a planned maintenance agreement. Many service providers have a detailed point inspection checklist the technician uses to inspect repair needs, potential safety risks, wearable items, and routine replacement parts. As technicians work through the checklist, he or she documents recommended repairs and provides service quotes to you for those repairs.  After going through the inspection process and performing any necessary repairs, many dealers will then bill you and schedule in the next appointment based on both hour usage and date cadence. While this process might be slightly different with dealers throughout the Toyota dealer network, maintaining uptime for your forklift is the value of any Planned Maintenance agreement. At Toyota, we believe in the value of planned maintenance so much that we include four PMs in the first year when you invest in Toyota 360 Support Plus. New forklift investment and proactive maintenance should go hand-in-hand.

Free Time with Full Maintenance

Signing up your forklift on a full maintenance agreement is like receiving the royal treatment. At the dealership I came from, you not only received everything included in the planned maintenance agreement, but you also had a plethora of other benefits, including:

• Maintenance records, tracking, and regular reports.
• Pre-paid scheduled and breakdown repairs with the exception of repairs due to misuse, abuse, and wearable items.
• Replacement rental equipment for the covered repairs, without charge.
• Flat monthly payment with the exception of repairs due to misuse, abuse, and wearable items.

With full maintenance, dealerships often take on the burden of overseeing the entire preventive health of your forklift. The true benefit is that the people who work with the equipment daily at the dealership now manage your forklift maintenance. When the dealership is able to work side-by-side with the customer, the dealership personnel is often in the best position to understand when to make repairs and replace parts before it affects your operation. This adds additional peace of mind when owning a forklift fleet. The monthly rate also helps you budget easier as the cost will not fluctuate from month-to-month. Ideally, you wouldn’t have to pay for every scheduled maintenance interval or the unexpected repairs that come with owning the forklift. Full maintenance monthly rates take into consideration a number of factors, such as equipment type, forklift utilization, age, service history, and the environment in which the forklift is operated.

Every service provider may differ in the way that they offer maintenance agreements. Planned maintenance and full maintenance agreements, in general, follow what I outlined above. Define your expectations and take a long, hard look at a proactive maintenance for your forklift fleet. It’s up to you to work with a dealer and tailor the maintenance agreement to meet your needs. 

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

As the material handling industry evolves, one area that continues to grow is the use of slipsheets to transport and handle products rather than the use of traditional pallets. Slipsheets are thin sheets made of plastic, paper, or corrugated material that come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit a range of needs. Similar to a pallet, they are placed underneath a load and are used to push or pull the load on and off of the forklift’s forks or platens.

Two different types of attachments are typically used to handle slipsheets. The first is a push/pull attachment that clamps onto the sheet and pulls the sheet and product load onto the platens (platens are essentially wider, thinner forks that come in different shapes and sizes). A gripper jaw at the bottom of the faceplate automatically closes at the end of the stroke and opens at the beginning so that only one hydraulic function is needed to grab and release the load using the sheet.

Above: Push/pull attachment engaging with a slipsheet and pulling the load onto the platens (Credit: Cascade Corporation)

Roller forks are a second type of attachment. Just as the name implies, these forks have multiple sets of rollers spanning across them, which help to roll the load up onto the forks. This type of attachment can also be used without slipsheets depending on the type of load.

Regardless of the attachment you’re using, slipsheets are becoming more and more popular as companies start to realize their potential for return on investment. They offer a significant number of advantages over pallets, including:

1. Initial cost – Purchasing slipsheets costs significantly less than purchasing pallets. Many pallets can cost more than $10 per unit to purchase while slipsheets will only run you approximately $1 apiece.
2. Storage cost – Due to their very slim nature, slipsheets take up significantly less storage space than pallets.
3. Transportation cost – Reduced storage space and a lightweight design can greatly reduce transportation costs.
4. Labor cost – Slipsheets are easily disposed of and require less labor to be picked up or moved around in a facility. They also save your employees a significant amount of time that would be spent floor loading products onto a trailer or off of a pallet.
5. Environmental Impact – Since most slipsheets are easily recyclable, they are often more environmentally friendly than traditional wooden pallets that often end up in landfills.

Slipsheets are a great alternative to pallets in many applications, particularly for loading and unloading trailers and for general warehousing. They, however, aren’t a practical alternative for all types of applications. Non-homogenous and disproportionate loads aren’t typically ideal for being handled on a slipsheet. Low throughput applications may not be able to justify the return on investment that slipsheets can provide due to high initial cost for the attachment. 

Written by Trinton Castetter, Product Marketing Specialist, Toyota Material Handling, USA

Forlifts, like cars, require more than just an oil change.  One hour of forklift use is approx. 35 miles of automobile use.  An Annual Service from DTL will keep your lift running safely and smoothly.  Dillon Toyota Lift Service Technicians are here to protect the investment you made in your forklift.  Here is what the annual service includes: 

Electric Forklifts: 

• Drain and flush hydraulic tank, install new hydraulic filter and refill with new hydraulic oil.Install new sump breather cap.

• Drain and flush differential, clean differential with new fluid.

• Inspect condition of all hoses.

• Remove steer wheel bearings, clean and repack with grease and reinstall and set bearing preload.

• Inspect steering system for worn pins and linkage and make minor adjustments as necessary.

• Inspect service brakes for proper operation, leaks and/ or contamination.

• Inspect parking brake for proper operation and condition of cables and linkage.

• Inspect and test the battery, water all cells.

• Clean and inspect the control panel.

• Check for loose connections, corrosion, worn contactor tips.

• Check for proper operation of all motors and insect for brush wear. Blow all motors out.

• Inspect upright, tilt cylinders, forks and associated mountings for any obvious cracks, defects of mission stops, and adjust lift chains.

• Inspect counterweight for proper mounting and that all bolts securing it are in place and tight.

• Inspect for proper operation of all gauges, controls, starting and charging components.

• Pressure wash lift.

Gas, CNG & LP Forklifts:

• Drain and flush hydraulic tank, install new hydraulic filter and refill with new hydraulic oil.Install new sump breather cap.

• Drain and flush transmission and differential, install new transmission filter, clean transmission and differential with new fluid.

• Install new air filter and fuel filter.

• Pressure test cooling system to check for leaks.Inspect cooling system for corrosion, check thermostat for proper operation and test anti-freeze protection level.

• Inspect condition of all belts and hoses.

• Perform engine tune-up with new spark plugs, points, condenser, rotor, distributor cap and ignition wires.

• Adjust valve lifters, install new valve cover gasket and perform engine compression test.

• Remove steer wheel bearings, clean and repack with grease and reinstall and set bearing preload.

• Inspect steering system for worn pins and linkage and make minor adjustments as necessary.

• Inspect service brakes for proper operation, leaks and/ or contamination.

• Inspect parking brake for proper operation and condition of cables and linkage.

• Check for proper operation of clutch or inching circuit and adjust if necessary.

• Inspect upright, tilt cylinders, forks and associated mountings for any obvious cracks, defects of mission stops, and adjust lift chains.

• Inspect counterweight for proper mounting and that all bolts securing it are in place and tight.

• Inspect for proper operation of all gauges, controls, starting and charging components.

• Pressure wash lift.

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

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

Winter is coming! And while you likely don’t have to worry much about an army of the undead descending upon you, you still have to prepare yourself (if you’re an operator), associates (if you’re a supervisor), facility, and forklifts for the harsh weather conditions ahead. Winterizing your fleet and facilities is no small task and it can have serious long-term impact if you don’t take the right forklift weather protection steps before snow piles up. So where to start? There are several areas of an operation to consider as the cold arrives.

Forklift Weather Protection in your Facility

This one’s pretty obvious, but if your operation involves working outside, then the wintery conditions are going to affect you significantly. Whether it’s freezing rain, snow, or anything in between, you need to have procedures in place for how and when it is appropriate to work in these types of environments. What types of hazards does this present for your application? Do you have ramps or pathways that could be particularly icy or dangerous to traverse? Is there danger of your product being damaged if exposed to these elements? What effect does the weather have on your visibility? Forklift weather protection is all about understanding the severity of the weather and its impact to your entire operation; that’s key to proper decision making. Make sure to never operate a forklift in any dangerous conditions and to only travel as fast as the conditions will allow.

Forklift Weather Protection for Employees

The safety of all associates is paramount. This starts with making sure operators and pedestrians are dressed appropriately for the weather by wearing extra layers and covering up their extremities as needed. If you’re an operator, make sure you take responsibility and let your supervisor know your needs. Gloves, coats, socks, boots, and ear muffs are but a few additional items to consider. When visibility is adversely affected by the weather, it’s also a good idea to wear high visibility clothing such as safety vests to help ensure high visibility. However, remember that safety is the most important thing here. Any additional clothing or gear operators wear should not impair their ability to perceive their environment (e.g. hearing or sight restrictions) or operating ability (e.g. limited mobility or ability to operate controls)

We talked about setting procedures for how to handle cold weather conditions, but it’s just as important to keep your employees informed of these procedures. Hosting daily meetings before each shift to evaluate current and expected weather conditions is a useful practice. This helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page prior to beginning their work day and allows you to develop a forklift weather protection action plan catered to the specific conditions for that day. It can also help you to reinforce good pre-operation checks. Having proper fluid levels, tire conditions, and other standards satisfied will help your operators stay safe during this time of year. If you’re an operator, this is definitely a process worth bringing up to your manager.

Forklift Weather Protection for your Forklifts

Does your forklift have an enclosed operator compartment and a heater/defroster? If you’re operating outdoors, and as long as the compartment doesn’t hinder perception of the working environment (fog glass, inability to hear, etc.), features like these can go a long way to keep operators warm, comfortable, and productive. It can also help make sure the operator controls and seats stay in top working condition. What about cold start aids such as engine block heaters and coolant preheaters? Are you using batteries that are designed to work or be charged in cold conditions? If you can’t even get your forklift started, you’re not going to get very much work done.

Even if your forklift is properly equipped, you still need to properly maintain it to keep it up and running throughout the winter. This starts with scheduling preventative maintenance with an authorized Toyota dealer prior to the start of cold weather and having regularly scheduled maintenance throughout the year. Proper battery care and maintenance is equally as important. Maintaining proper water levels and limiting exposure to cold weather as much as possible are two general rules of thumb for electric forklifts. Cold weather can greatly reduce battery life and battery run time so you should prepare for how this might affect your productivity ahead of time. Consider your battery charging options and number of batteries on-hand to help reduce potential downtime.

Written by:  Trinton Castetter, Product Marketing Specialist, Toyota Material Handling, USA​