Efficiency

To improve warehouse efficiency, start by identifying your current bottlenecks. These are the places and processes that slow down your whole operation — and one of the most likely culprits is your loading dock.

A vertical reciprocating conveyor (VRC) is a type of freight lift that efficiently raises and lowers materials between levels. Importantly, freight lifts are not elevators—they have distinct safety standards (ASME Standard B20.1) and cannot be used to lift human workers.

Ladder hoists aren’t just for roofers. Any workplace that combines material handling with overhead work can benefit from equipment that supports lifting and climbing at once — and that includes the warehousing industry.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) runs one of the world’s largest civilian fleets of any kind, with nearly a quarter of a million vehicles. It’s significant that USPS plans to stop buying gas-powered trucks by 2026.

A loading dock platform is a free-standing, steel loading structure that does everything a standard loading dock can do, but in a modular format you can quickly install just about anywhere.

Vertical Reciprocating Conveyors (VRC) are efficient, safe, and affordable vertical lifts designed to move materials between levels. They’re essential for many multi-story warehouses, mezzanine-equipped manufacturing floors, and automated conveyor systems that use both vertical and horizontal space.

Scissor lifts are frequently used as work platforms — and anytime you’re asking workers to use heavy equipment, you need to think about compliance with relevant standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Operating forklifts — or even working around them — can be dangerous. In 2021, 70 workers lost their lives in forklift accidents. The previous year, more than 7,000 people were injured. According to the National Safety Council, more than half of these forklift injuries were the result of “transportation incidents.”

Vertical reciprocating conveyors (VRCs) are a type of material handling infrastructure designed to move loads between levels. They serve the same function as freight elevators, with one key difference: People can ride freight elevators, whereas VRCs are intended only for materials.

Typical loading docks have a 4-foot drop-off, which can be dangerous to workers and equipment. This is not hypothetical: Forklift operators have been fatally injured by falls from loading docks, and it’s difficult to overstate the hazard posed by an open dock door.