CHEP’s Gillman service centre in South Australia introduced triple-tine forklift trucks in January 2014. Load times have reduced by an average of 10.5 minutes compared to loading with a double-tine forklift, according to regional operations manager, Mike O’Flaherty.
During 2015, the triple-tine forklift trucks will begin to operate in key CHEP metro operations nationally. Victoria’s largest pallet service centre at Dandenong South adopted the new trucks in August. Altona will follow in early 2015.
The new trucks are not the only efficiency boost CHEP has given its service centres. Forklift trucks have also been fitted with larger gas tanks, cutting filling time down to once per shift and saving up to 30 minutes per forklift. And CHEP Logistics trucks are now loaded overnight to reduce yard congestion during the day.
“It has certainly decreased the wait time customers trucks spend in the yard which delivers cost benefits. I’ve been here [at Gillman Service Centre] for 23 years and this is the least congested I’ve ever seen the yard in this normally busy lead up to Christmas,” O’Flaherty commented.
“By using a triple pallet handler attachment we are now able to carry three stacks of pallets in a movement compared to two stacks with the double pallet handlers.This means we achieve a 50% improvement in productivity and a 50% improvement in load/unload times.”
CHEP worked with the manufacturers on the forklift truck specs and on building an attachment that handles three stacks of pallets safely and is strong enough to cope with the 50% increase in weight. The new five tonne fork truck is small enough to manoeuvre around a CHEP yard and has the flexibility to pick up one, two or three stacks of pallets/product at one time.
“The driver acceptance has been really good. Truck drivers have been commenting on the faster load times. Also, the forklift trucks are now air conditioned. In South Australia, it gets very hot in summer and air conditioning is a big plus for our staff,” O’Flaherty added.
