I was listening to my favorite rush hour FM morning team while commuting from kitchen to home office when something I heard stopped me in my tracks. Luckily no one was following close behind or there would have been a major cereal spill. The morning show host was talking about forklifts. Specifically, he was citing a report from the National Consumers League that “forklift operator” was number three on the list of five most dangerous jobs for teen workers.

Wait a minute. Isn’t it illegal for young teens to operate forklifts? It is, according to the ...Read More

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Know what my dog Simba and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford have in common? They both did the wrong thing because they believed they could get away with it.

Before sitting down to write this blog in the comfort of my living room, I had to chase my yellow lab off our leather couch. My wife and I don’t want him on our leather couch, and we’ve made this clear to him many times. He stays off it when we’re around, but when he thinks the coast is clear, he’ll sneak back onto his forbidden pleasure.

Speaking of sneaks, how about that Mark Sanford? If you’ve been following the news, you know where I’m going with this—and it ain’t Argentina.

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If anything good is coming out of the tough economic times we’re living through, it’s that logistics people are starting to think more strategically than reactively. Better late than never. Unfortunately, reactive thinking is still at play in helping us learn the lessons behind the tough times plaguing our transportation infrastructure.

Just the other day we read about the commuter train crash in Washington, DC that killed nine people and injured scores. Early findings are that the Metro system routinely delayed system upgrades that could have resulted in a far less ugly outcome. Who knows, maybe there are operator training implications as well.

A few weeks before that we heard about th...Read More

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I wanted to share one more observation that came out of my researching lift truck leasing for Modern’s upcoming August Lift Truck Tips column as well as for an article I'm writing for Logistics Management magazine. A couple blogs ago I told you you’re in a better bargaining position than ever, thanks to lift truck providers trying to salvage as much margin as they can in this tough economy.

Well, it turns out not only are leasing terms becoming more flexible, but rental is becoming an attractive short term option for many users when they're not ready to commit to purchasing or leasing a new lift truck. Ralph Petta, vice president of research and industry services for the Equipment Leasing and Fina...Read More

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There are some changes in the works that could affect the economic benefits you enjoy from leasing lift trucks. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are collaborating to develop a new model for recognizing assets and liabilities under lease contracts. The proposed new standard is expected to affect the balance sheets of all companies that lease equipment.

Under the existing standard, a company must classify and account for leases as operating or capital leases, depending on whether the lease transfers all or substantially all of the risks and rewards incident to ownership. The capitalization model wo...Read More

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If you’ve been looking for bright spots amidst the gloom and doom reported by most news outlets lately, I have a few points of light to share with you. In fact my own opinion about the economy is brightening as I research the ways lift truck buyers are dealing with sellers. My August Lift Truck Tips column in Modern will go into more detail about this topic, but I couldn’t wait a couple months without giving you a taste of what I’m hearing.

Basically, you as a lift truck buyer are more comfortably positioned in the driver’s seat—both ergonomically and economically. We’ll explore ergonomics another time, but economically, buyers both large and small are benefiting from our present economic environment.

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I’m going on vacation this week. Before I leave I wanted to recommend a book to you that I’m taking with me. It’s called The Industrial Revolutionaries, the Making of the Modern World, 1776-1914, by Gavin Weightman.

I read a review of it in the Wall Street Journal a couple months ago and thought it might have some good historical fodder I could use for this blog. Alas, not a mention of the words “forklift” or “lift truck” in the book. However, one chapter—called “Horsepower”—will give you a good appreciation for what the pioneers of the internal combustion engine had to go through to get acceptance for their innovations.

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So what if you don’t see many fuel cell powered lift trucks among your local dealer’s lines? Don’t interpret that as proof nothing’s happening to add them to your fleet. I just saw a new report (World Fuel Cells) from Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm, which says fuel cell spending worldwide (including R&D funding and commercial sales) will grow to $9.4 billion in 2013, and rise at an 11.0 percent annual pace. 

Judging from what I heard at last week’s 2009 Ohio Fuel Cell Symposium held in Canton, OH, the Buckeye state is doing its part to make these numbers real, thanks in no small way to lift truck R&D.

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Got an e-mail from one of my loyal readers the other day (he and the other one take turns keeping me on my toes). He rattled off a list of questions about the forklift industry relating to size (US vs global), the top five players, the market split between electric vs propane and finally, overall trends. This guy was obviously doing his homework in preparation for a major investment. The fact he was also a buyer for a major retail chain told me that maybe he thinks our economy’s downward spiral has hit bottom.

I directed him to Modern’s last Top 20 Lift Truck manufacturers report and to our subsequent ...Read More

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I’ve told you in past blog posts that I see lift trucks everywhere, even when I’m not trying. I see them in the movies (Star Trek), while shopping (Home Depot) —even on TV. You probably did too if you saw the season finale of 24 this week. In a pivotal scene (and they’re ALL pivotal, aren’t they?), Jack Bauer, sickened by exposure to a bioweapon, seeks refuge from his pursuing enemy by shimmying under a partially-opened garage door and then shutting it the rest of the way via a handy remote control pendant. Said enemy, not being as quick as even a sick Jack Bauer, gets locked outside. Not to worry. We next see two lift truck tines pierce through said door and do what they were designed to do: lift. I hate to pat ...Read More

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You know times are tough when lift trucks become a crook’s tool of choice. Dateline Banks County, Ga.: Two thieves used a lift truck to yank an ATM from the outside wall of The Northeast Georgia Bank. Banks County Sheriff Charles Chapman said the lift truck was hot-wired at a nearby construction site and then driven on State Route 441 to the bank. The story has a happy ending: after it was dusted for prints the lift truck was returned to its owners.

Kind of makes you respect the power of these industrial workhorses, doesn’t it? That said, would you want to put a lift truck that was hot-wired back to work in your facility? ...Read More

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