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Put simply, an economy doesn’t survive, let alone thrive, without the logistical efficiencies made possible by forklifts. Their ability to move products and materials from one place to another, often in 24-hour operations and sometimes seven days per week, is not only an engineering marvel, but also a necessity. They are an economy’s true workhorses.
There are many types of facilities that operate 24/7, including ports — seaports, inland ports, rail ports and even airports — manufacturing facilities, warehouses, distribution centers, lumber yards, and countless others. There are also several main types of forklifts – those powered by gasoline, diesel, electric batteries, and propane. This affords a facility operator a choice, but which one makes the most sense?
No matter the operational needs, propane forklifts make more sense than gasoline, diesel or electric counterparts for 24-hour operations. There are many reasons for this, but the one major advantage of propane forklifts is that over 24-hour operation, the 33-pound tank, which has about eight hours of use, needs to be replaced twice or at most three times. That speaks to their convenience, ease of use and robust power.
Better Than Electric …
Many times, the biggest challenge for a 24-hour operation using forklifts of any make, model or power source is not the forklifts themselves, but the operators. Properly trained and certified labor is needed to operate the machinery but is not always in high supply.
That said, propane forklifts have been both safely and widely used for decades in many operations. There are many reasons for the adoption of propane forklifts, but ease of use is one of them, such as instant startup and shutdown. Both new and seasoned operators can climb aboard and get to work straightaway, without having to wait for a gas or diesel engine to warm up or an electric battery to finish charging. For operations like ports, which are on tight timeframes to load and unload cargo, this is crucial.
Similar to how propane tanks can be changed out, electric forklifts can swap out batteries, sometimes using an automated “carousel” format where freshly recharged batteries are at the front, but there are several challenges. First, the batteries are very heavy, and they need time to cool before they can be recharged. That means multiple batteries are necessary for just one forklift.
Second, consider that battery chargers themselves have to be connected to electrical grid power. This is not an easy task, considering everything that goes into that process, like trenching, conduit, and transformers. Nor is it a cheap task – the facility owner has to cover the cost of connection.
Then there is run time. No one wants to be stuck in a huge facility in the middle of the night with a dead electric forklift battery, which can happen when the battery drains. Propane forklifts operate with the same power whether the tank is full or almost empty. This provides consistent power to keep products and materials moving.
Finally, equipment cost is also a challenge. For example, a basic Class 1 counterbalance electric forklift is going to be more expensive than its direct counterpart, a Class 4 propane forklift. Utilizing propane forklifts keeps capital expenditures in line.
… Better Than Diesel and Gas
Since propane is a clean and non-toxic fuel, it provides major advantages to operations that work both indoors and outdoors. It’s a key tenet of seamless versatility: no special arrangements have to be made when operating propane forklifts indoors, unlike diesel and gasoline forklifts, for example, where vents in buildings have to be opened and fans turned on to flush out the harmful emissions.
And it’s a safe process, too. Every propane forklift has an automatic shutoff safety feature that stops fuel flow on the off chance of a mishap. That’s on top of the fact that tanks, fuel lines, and carburetors are required to meet uncompromising national safety standards.
Finally, propane forklifts offer a marked ease of maintenance for 24-hour operations compared with diesel- and gasoline-powered models. They are not complicated machines, and because propane is a clean energy source, there is a longer time between oil changes. That avoids unnecessary downtime and lowers maintenance costs.
Battling Harsh Conditions
At the end of the day, there are 24/7 operations where propane forklifts are simply the best fit. For example, loading railcars or moving lumber often happens in harsh conditions – environments that current battery technology just isn’t suited for.
Propane forklifts lead the way in convenience and clean operation. The ability to operate indoors or outdoors with full power throughout a shift ensures unmatched productivity, which keeps businesses — and the economy — standing strong.
