A growing number of warehouses, distribution centers and other industrial operations are turning to electric forklift trucks. Benefits of an electric fleet include reduced energy consumption and lower emissions. Electric forklifts now account for 64 percent of the North American market. As a result, maintaining your forklift fleet is more important than ever before.

Why Include a Service Contract for Your Forklift Battery?

There are several benefits of pairing your forklift battery purchase with a service contract. Over 50 percent of companies expect to increase spending on material handling equipment in the next two to three years. Almost 50 percent will be considering investments in lift trucks and accessories. Proper maintenance of the lead batteries powering those forklifts will keep your organization running.

Motive power service begins with proper installation of the batteries and chargers. Miscommunication between the charger and the battery decreases cycle life and risks overheating the battery. The correct installation will help protect the warranty on your batteries and chargers.

Ongoing maintenance also protects the battery’s warranty. In addition to equalizing and maintaining water levels weekly, batteries should be inspected regularly, and adjustments made as needed.

Users should be aware of the depth of discharge for the battery installed in the forklifts they are operating. Batteries should not be discharged below 80 percent of the rated capacity. Over discharging will shorten the battery life and void the warranty.

Energy Performance Management Software Enables Proactive Maintenance

An understanding of your lift truck battery data provides critical insights into your lift truck fleet. With this information, you get the most performance and life out of your motive power investment. Energy performance management software gives lead batteries a “voice” to tell you when they need service. Real-time monitoring of the batteries and chargers can allow service technicians to get ahead of small problems before they escalate.

Lead Batteries for Performance and Efficiency

Lead batteries in motive power applications must be able to stand up to a wide variety of performance requirements. When combined with opportunity or fast charging capabilities, lead batteries provide greater energy efficiencies and more uptime.

Lead batteries are a sustainable, readily available energy storage solution. The recycling rate of lead batteries is 99 percent, the highest of any consumer product. A new lead battery produced in the U.S. is typically comprised of more than 80 percent recycled raw materials. North American manufacturing meets about 90 percent of domestic lead battery demand.

There are a variety of lead battery technologies available to meet the specific needs of your application. For many standard applications, flat-plate batteries would be a cost-effective solution. Tubular batteries offer greater power density, capacity and life compared to flat-plate, and will operate better in harsh applications. 

Maintain Your Forklift Battery for Smooth Operations

Cost and performance are driving factors in choosing the motive power solutions for their forklifts, making lead batteries an excellent option. Combining your lead battery purchase with a service contract and energy performance management software is a smart investment in your fleet. The cost of downtime is much greater than the cost of proactive maintenance.

Professional and onsite services provided by the battery manufacturer are a value-add for any organization. Why add an in-house engineer to the payroll and try to decipher the battery data yourselves? Allow the experts to analyze the information and identify what service needs are pending and any potential issues that may arise. This gives you more time to focus on your core business.

In conclusion, pairing your forklift battery purchase with a service contract and an energy performance management software, will help to maximize availability and productivity of your operations.

Steve Battleson, Director, Americas Industrial Service, Stryten Energy