If you maintain a warehouse or material production facility, then you’ve almost certainly heard of Wesco. Wesco is one of the leading electrical, industrial and logistic service providers in the United States – and indeed the world. They operate in seventeen countries, and have been in business since 1922.
The team at Douglas Equipment is more than happy to be a distributor of Wesco’s range of material handing equipment. Some of the Wesco products that we stock include:
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Pallet Jacks
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Platform Trucks, Dollies And Carts
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Lift Equipment
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Hand Trucks
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Drum Handling Equipment
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Dock And Shipping Equipment
The most popular item that we provide for our customers from Wesco is their pallet jack. Wesco makes a wide range of pallet jacks, all with different abilities and advantages. For simple operation, there’s the straight unpowered pallet jack that works solely upon manual operation. There are standard sizes and configurations, but you can also purchase specialist manual pallet jacks as manufactured by Wesco, including drum lifters and high lift pallet jacks.
Looking for a Little Something More?
If your operation needs a little more than manual labor in order to move items around your warehouse or production facility, then Wesco also manufactures powered pallet jacks. These are ‘walk behinds’ in which the operator walks behind the jack, with the power coming from an electric motor. These items are a great compromise between the light-duty ability of a manual pallet jack, and the expense of a forklift. Wesco offers a deluxe light-duty power pallet truck that has a 3300 lb. capacity, or if you’re looking for a more heavy-duty option, the deluxe heavy-duty power pallet truck, which has a 4,400 lb. capacity.
As a distributor of Wesco material-handling equipment, we get asked many questions. Fortunately, we are always happy to answer them. The number one question we’re often asked is this:
What are the Advantages of a Wesco Pallet Jack, and Why Does my Company Need One?
Lots of companies feel that when it comes to moving pallets, a forklift truck is the only option available to them. Usually, this is not the case at all. Pallet jacks are – in the first case – much easier to maintain than a forklift. A forklift is a motorized, mechanical device with countless moving parts and electrical components. The more parts a piece of machinery has, the more chances there are for things to go wrong, and the more parts that will require maintenance.
When it comes to a pallet jack – even a motorized pallet jack – your main worries are lubrication and power. If you keep your pallet jack well lubricated, then that really is the end of your maintenance worries. For a motorized pallet jack, all you will need to do aside from lubrication is to replace the battery when it stops charging – an extremely simple process.
There are also additional costs when it comes to a forklift that simply do not exist when it comes to pallet jacks – many of which are often never considered. For starters, you do not need to train someone to use a pallet jack, but only qualified personnel are allowed to use forklifts, so if you purchase a forklift you’ll need to provide the intensive training to enable someone to use it.
Some additional advantages of a pallet jack over a forklift include:
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Pallet jacks – even motorized pallet jacks are much cheaper than forklifts. This has several benefits – first, your production floor will be much more efficient if you have several pallets on the move at all times instead of just a single pallet being moved by a forklift. Secondly, if your forklift breaks down or is in need of regular service, then your production floor could grind to a halt. If one of your pallet jacks is in need of repair then you still have the rest of your fleet available to move items from one place to another in your facility.
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Pallet jacks have a smaller footprint than a forklift, so storage is much easier. This is especially valuable when storage space is at a premium. Forklifts are also much taller, as well, robbing you of even more storage space.
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Forklifts need power of course, and most forklifts are powered by a rechargeable battery. If your operators forget to leave your forklift on a charging station overnight, or for some reason the charging system fails, then in the morning you will have a completely useless machine. Even if you invest in motorized pallet trucks and you make the mistake of forgetting to charge the unit, you’ll find that your jack charges up in a lot less time than a forklift.
Of course a pallet jack is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution to all your logistical woes. If your production floor personnel are required to move pallets around all day, every day, then even a fleet of pallet jacks (even motorized pallet jacks) will not be enough to get the job done. You risk operator fatigue and injuries. Just like your forklifts cannot operate without power, your pallet jacks cannot operate without power, even if it is manpower! An injured operator is something to be avoided at all costs as they are likely to be out of your available manpower pool for quite some time, plus there is always the worry of litigation.
Douglas Equipment: Supplying Your Material-Handling Needs
Although there are several advantages in using pallet jacks and motorized pallet jacks – especially those manufactured by Wesco – it’s important that you understand all the necessary considerations when it comes to their purchase, and what options are right for your company.
Here at Douglas Equipment, we are always happy to provide help and advice on Wesco’s wide range of products. All you need to do to speak with one of our expert support members is to pick up the phone and dial us toll free at 1-800-451-0030. You can also get in touch with us via our online contact form, where we’ll follow up with you as soon as possible after we receive your request.
