Adjustable Panel Trucks Vs. Flatbed Carts for Sheet Materials

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) doesn’t have the resources to publish detailed safety advice for every task under every occupation. They limit their guidance to only the most risky jobs.

That’s why it’s significant that, in August of 2022, NIOSH issued Publication No. 2022-140, a quick guide to safely handling drywall. 

“Workers who handle drywall sheets are at high risk of overexertion,” begins the pamphlet. “The weight and bulkiness of drywall can intensify any bending, twisting, turning, or lifting motions and cause serious injury.” 

That publication is about drywall, specifically, but its warnings hold for most panel-type materials in the construction industry. Sheet metal, particle board, architectural panels, windows, doors, and more: They all increase the risk of ergonomic injury for material handlers at the jobsite and the warehouse alike. 

The most common ergonomic intervention for sheet materials is the Flatbed Cart. Certainly, that’s better than nothing. But Flatbed Carts are best used to handle large, bulky materials. They’re not ideal for stacks of panels, which would require a risky combination of bending and exertion to unload. 

A better solution holds panels in vertical rows, not flat stacks. And when you take a vertically oriented sheet cart and add adjustable dividers, you dramatically expand the benefits for your operation as a whole. Adjustable Panel Trucks offer the safest and most efficient way to handle sheet materials in the construction industry. 

Here are five ways Adjustable Panel Trucks beat Flatbed Carts for handling sheets and panels.

Adjustable Panel Trucks: 5 Advantages for Handling Sheets

To be clear, Flatbed Carts are essential parts of any good material handling fleet. They offer a safe, efficient way to handle bulky items like furniture or heavy machine parts. But they’re not optimized for handling panels or sheets — and Adjustable Panel Trucks are. 

These are the advantages of using Adjustable Panel Trucks instead of Flatbed Carts for sheet materials.  

1. Safer Loading and Unloading

NIOSH lists “awkward postures,” “twisting and carrying loads,” and “lifting bulky loads” as prime examples of risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Panels on Flatbed Carts require all three. 

Adjustable Panel Trucks avoid these motions by storing sheet materials vertically. That allows workers to load and unload sheet carts without bending, stooping, or twisting.  

2. Built-In Protection for Materials

Transporting flat stacks of materials can lead to damaged product. The risk comes from at least two sources: compression within the stack and running into things during travel, which can wreak havoc on unprotected drywall corners, for example. 

Adjustable Panel Carts keep more of the load within the footprint of the cart. That reduces the risk of impact damage. More importantly, perhaps, they also use product-friendly PVC dividers that won’t scratch or dent your materials. You can move these dividers to create a compartment sized just right for your load, so they don’t move around during transit. All these factors help to prevent damage.  

3. Optimal Handling for Multiple Materials

Adjustable Panel Carts allow you to configure storage spaces to carry specific loads — including cartloads made up of different material types. You could carry doors, lumber, and drywall on the same cart. That has obvious benefits for jobsites, because it limits the number of back-and-forth trips for a given job (like a door/jamb replacement). 

But it’s also helpful for construction warehouses and material distribution centers. A contractor might order all the materials they need for a pre-hung door replacement, for example — door slab, frame, trim, associated lumber. With an Adjustable Panel Cart, you could move the whole order on a single unit. That saves time and effort, improving overall operational productivity across orders.   

4. Smaller Storage Footprint

By configuring an Adjustable Panel Cart for different jobs, you get rid of the need for multiple specialized sheet carts. A single cart can now handle all your panel-type materials, regardless of specifications. 

That reduces storage needs for your material handling fleet. You can park a single cart between uses instead of three or four. In a construction warehouse, where square footage translates directly into profitability, these space savings make a real difference. 

5. One-Person Operation

A single employee can often safely wheel an Adjustable Panel Cart through your facility. Phenolic casters ensure mobility even with heavy loads, while tubular steel construction with a smooth powder coating provides plenty of ergonomic hand holds. 

To learn more about Adjustable Panel Trucks from BHS, Inc., contact our sales team at 1.800.BHS.2500.