Expanding Your Forklift Fleet’s Capabilities by Adding Weather-Rated Accessories
As nice as it would be, not every material handling job gets to be situated within a dry, temperate warehouse all the time. A great many tasks require forklifts to venture outside into the elements, and often these tasks get interrupted or postponed due to adverse weather conditions like sudden rain or snow. When weather strikes, warehouse productivity takes a hit, and forklift missions back up until the weather clears and lifts can safely return outside. In these cases, fleet managers do have options in the form of aftermarket weather-rated accessories. By adding weather-rated accessories, forklifts can be configured to safely tackle outdoor tasks even in harsh weather, regaining lost productivity and expanding the fleet’s capabilities overall.
Bad weather conditions present a number of hazards to forklift operations such as poor traction and handling, low visibility, equipment damage, and physical injury. Even worse, extreme weather can make routine tasks highly unpredictable, a problem further compounded by using lifts with known deficiencies in outdoor conditions. To address all of these concerns, aftermarket weather-rated accessories are specifically designed to reinforce a lift truck’s technical and functional attributes in the following three ways:
- Safety – first and foremost, weather-capable accessories are intended to boost the safety of operating forklifts in rain, snow, fog, extreme heat or cold, icy, or windy conditions. This is achieved by adding performative or interactive functionality to the lift (such as by enhancing traction and lighting).
- Risk Mitigation – second to safety, weather-capable forklift accessories serve a critical function of mitigating risks when operating lifts in poor weather. This is achieved by actively removing hazards presented by weather (such as by adding tire enclosures and cold-weather coolant).
- Comfort – last but not least, weather-capable accessories are meant to enhance operator’s comfort while working in unpleasant conditions. This is achieved by optimizing the operator’s environment (such as by installing cab enclosures and cabin heaters).
In general, any aftermarket product that either adds weather compatibility or solves a weather-borne hazard qualifies as a weather-fighting lift truck accessory. With that said, fleet managers must ensure that they purchase accessories that are compatible with their lifts and can be reasonably expected to provide protection in the face of foreseeable weather conditions. In other words, weather-combating accessories should not be purchased simply to provide a false sense of security to operators.
Top Aftermarket Weather-Fighting Accessories for Material Handling Fork Trucks
With the design criteria mentioned above in mind, let’s now have a look at the below top aftermarket weather-rated accessories:
- Tire Chains – like automobile snow chains, forklift tire chains can be easily installed over a lift’s tires to provide added traction in snowy conditions.
- Snowplows – steel snowplow scoops can be easily slid onto a forklift’s forks to help clear snow-covered driveways, loading docks, walking paths, and yard areas.
- Dump Buckets – similar to snowplows, dump buckets are a great slide-on accessory that can be used to spread sand and gravel around icy yards, improving traction for pedestrians and vehicles.
- Cab Enclosures – cab enclosure kits completely shield operators from outside elements by adding a cover, front and rear windshields, and side doors around a lift’s safety cage. Enclosure packages are available in multiple materials, insulation types, ventilation types, colors, and sealing levels for either hot or cold environments.
- Cab Covers – for lift trucks that don’t need complete enclosing but would still benefit from overhead protection, cab covers (or caps) affix to a lift’s head guard to keep intense sun and light rain off of operators.
- Rain Guards – fitting in-between cab enclosures and cab caps, rain guards consist of pliable, waterproof vinyl sheets that operators can roll up or down as needed to keep rain out.
- Wind Screens – wind screens are lighter-duty, non-waterproof versions of rain guards that are specifically designed to shield operators from gusting wind and dust.
- Cab Heating & Cooling – typically paired with cab enclosures and rain guards, cab climate conditioning systems temper extreme outside temperatures by supplying contained cab spaces with hot and cool air.
- Weatherproof Controls & Lighting – forklifts are not weather-rated by default, requiring selection of varying weatherproofing levels prior to order. For lifts originally specified with only weather-resistant electronics, weatherproof electronics, controls, and lighting upgrades can be installed.
- Waterproof Seats – most forklifts are equipped with standard water-resistant seats that are fine for incidental moisture and spills, but only full waterproof-rated seats or seat covers are designed for extended exposure to moisture.
- Anti-Slip Treatments – even for weather-rated forklift models, often their control knobs and pedals become overly slippery in wet conditions. Anti-slip tapes, pedal covers, control grips, and steering wheel covers can be added to improve control.
- High Intensity Lighting – standard forklift lighting is not usually sufficient for cutting through low visibility weather such as rain, snow, and fog, requiring upgrades to high intensity headlights, reverse lights, and added fog lights.
- Weather-Rated Maintenance Parts – weatherproofing a forklift is not just about external accessories, but also requires equal attention “under the hood”. Hot, cold, and dusty environments each benefit from coolants, oils, lubricants, filters, elastomers, tires, and other maintenance parts specified for such conditions.
Important Reminders for Operating Forklifts in Inclement Weather
Even after outfitting a machine with weatherproofing accessories, forklift operation in the snow and other poor weather conditions still requires extra care, attention, and training to ensure the very safest outcomes. To this end, here are four reminders for operators using aftermarket weather-combating accessories in inclement weather:
- Slow, Safe, and Sure – no matter how many weather-rated accessories are added to a lift, operators must never assume that their lift is completely free of hazards in bad weather. Heat, cold, rain, snow, and wind can all impact the wider environment in unpredictable ways, and so operators should default to slow motion, safe actions, and sure decisions at all times.
- Personal Protective Equipment – beyond adding weather-rated accessories to a lift, operators must dress for the occasion themselves so as not to create additional hazards. Cool or warm clothing, safety gear, eye/ear/face protection, gloves, anti-slip footwear, and high-visibility vests are the minimum for bad weather PPE.
- Policy Restrictions – when it comes to forklift modifications, fleet managers and operators should have a general understanding of what their company’s policies allow and disallow before venturing into bad weather. While forklift accessories can make it possible to operate in snow and other extreme conditions, a company’s policies may prohibit such activity for other reasons (such as insurance, equipment lease, or worker safety rules).
- Performance Derating – when operating in severe weather, it is best to derate a forklift’s capacity so as to error on the safe side. Most often, this translates into staying well under the lift’s weight, height, speed, and center of gravity limits, just to be extra sure that the lift stays stable all the time.
We hope that this discussion has been helpful for your commercial material handling needs. Fairchild Equipment is the Upper Midwest’s premier Material Handling Equipment and Service resource, with headquarters in Green Bay, Wisconsin and numerous locations ready 24/7 to serve your needs throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, northern Illinois and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. For more information or to discuss which Warehouse Optimization solution might be best for you, please send a message to our team of experts or give us a call at (844) 432-4724.
