Electric pallet jacks are rapidly becoming a crucial piece of equipment in the delivery world. They remind us of power liftgates 10 years ago when they were considered a luxury not standard. Today fleets are trying harder than ever to reduce worker injury and retain drivers. They are turning to electric pallet jacks to solve both problems, creating a new standard for many distribution fleets – and a new problem charging batteries.
The problem is, just like liftgates, electric pallet jacks run on battery power – the same batteries that struggle to run the liftgate. Keeping those pallet jacks fully charged becomes a difficult challenge when your drivers are on the move. We are learning that many fleets have drivers carry extension cords with them to drag dead electric pallet jacks to shore power. They charge them up just long get enough to get them back on the trucks and on to the next delivery. This is obviously not a productive use of your driver’s time and these disruptions slow down your operation costing your fleet in multiple ways.
Most fleets without RelGen, our Hybrid Charging system, are currently running their liftgates from the starter batteries. Many of these fleets struggle with down trucks just from running the liftgate, never mind adding an electric pallet jack to the mix.
We solved this frustrating and costly dilemma for one customer by installing RelGen on a box truck with four AGM batteries to power the liftgate, pallet jack, lights inside the box and a computer. RelGen captures kinetic energy from the truck’s spinning driveshaft to provide dedicated power to your liftgate batteries. It starts charging at 12-15 mph and replenishes batteries fully within 6-12 minutes between stops. This customer has been very satisfied with our ability to take some of these hidden costs out of their operating budgets to make them a more lean and efficient operation.
Since RelGen handles all the charging capacity with the additional four batteries, fleets can isolate the starter batteries from anything to do with the liftgates, pallet jacks, lights etc. You’ll never have down trucks again. From delivery to delivery, your equipment will be fully charged and able to operate at peak performance saving you both time and money. Your operation will be more efficient since your drivers won’t need to carry extension cords with them anymore.
According to our data, RelGen saves the average distribution fleet about $3,868.69 per truck per year. Since RelGen costs $2995, your return on investment would be less than a year. These numbers don’t factor in the added savings of reducing engine wear and tear, making employee time more efficient, and eliminating down trucks. Furthermore, we save 1,270 gallons of diesel fuel and prevent 13 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Not only will you be saving money, making working conditions easier for your drivers but you can also now advertise to your customers that you are a fleet committed to sustainability. All the more reasons to tell your drivers that they do not need to drag around dead pallet jacks with extension cords anymore.
