Document aJBwyx6zDGj0Zwvr4a4M3Vo6a

mmmmm '.tl | V|' ib'AeTft r i-^i Ut l'Hfll m.* --..ini'.. Sj.W.v. mmmmm LIA14300 .............. ~i LEAD INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION, INC. *1 M A 0110 N AVINUI NEW TOAK. M.V. 10017 TUVMM-UU HM Btl July 3, 1967 SUgJKTi KiOAZXXZ STOW Oi H7TTWCP To: Natora of The Load Industries Uiortitlo, lae.i Xncloeed la a reprint of an editorial article froa the March laaoo of NHL US FACTOR! t|nlno concerning the challenge being offered to gas powered vehicles by electric lift tracks. Ha think the placo la doee quit* objectively and contains auch food for thought on the subject. Flaaae note that ono of the ranographa froa our well know brochure, 'Industrial Trucks -- that do they oostT ... to Oml ... to Operate? ... to Maintain?* Is reproduced as a eecparlsoa table. He hare ordered a quantity of reprints for use la our aotlro power battery rs^iilgn activities. Op to 2$ copies are available to asabera without charge. Sincerely, CABiJb Coonel A. Baker wwiwnssargur.Wji |g tmJ N 3505 ww n fiOTian-;, M*l>m itoawjMlfca mrr-tHlar0mtl^iiii LIA14301 WS* SPECIAL REPORT Before you buy: chscksoma lift trucktruths KKOKl nuiM, Aatecaa* Carta IN BRIEF Electric lift trucks are challenging gas powered vehicles in the material han dling industry. Although their initial cost is high, the substantial benefits and long-term savings of the electrics are very attractive. Here are the facts. TRAVELING down the loos alaW of the nritchpar plant, the fork lift truck, fueled with liquid propane ana, rolled alone efficiently but noisily, giving off a ooxloua odor. Stopped for a moment and questioned, the driver shrugged the odor off aa just part of the Job. In the neat breath, however, he added, "In the summertime. the smell's so had you can hardly atand it" Would he rather drive a batterypowered truck ? "I'm aatiafit-d with thia one. Electric* are too jerky for me. I've driven 'era in another plant aome year* back." The driver'* attitude i* charaderiatie of the archaic approach to eledrica still being taken in plant* throughout the country. Unfortu nately, the attitude U not limited only to the driver. Hi* view of the "ga v electric" ecene i* alao reflected in the attitude* of many plant supervisor* responsible for recommending lift truck* to their purchaaing department*. It fflurt be pointed out at once, that gaaollnepowered lift trucks are themnelve* playing Im portant role* in industry today. Many plant men favor the ga* type*, not because they have compared their merit* to electric* aucceaafully. but because they are used to them. Other men prefer them because of their low Initial coat Whatever the reason, electric truck* have a mem mmm N 3505.01 I mm LIA14302 1 -i ----- --v - hiMiUdigiitw^fe-ini -i* aim i*iSClSli ' MBMrfMiiliWi m n in sr tku4 ATTIRY PUT ON chsrjs at f*Se<sl Warthouw u0e Cods mete* plan long road to hoc before they can net the name proflu racked up by gasoline unite. During plant visits to tret theae attitudes, 1 tree favored with eeveral old wivec' taiea One maintained that battery-powered lift trucka arc not aj amoolh in operation aa gma trucka are; another, that electrica juat cannot do the tame heavy work that gaa trucka can. Both of theae taiea, while baaed on earlier truths, no laager apply. With the advent of aolid-etata cootrola and other technological developments in the field of battery-operatad lift trucka (including better quality battrriea), electrica have come abreact of their gaa-filled counterparta la inplant applications. Tbough all plant men will not agree with that statement, under questioning, many aril) admit they have not given the electric truck a fair ahake. It ia not easy fnr men with yearn cf plant experience uxing gna trucka, to view eleotrica without disdain. This U not to may that electrica aren't being accepted. A look at truck manufacturera' nalee indicates a growing acceptance of electric lift trucka. And the greatest users of theae trucka appear to be the larger companies. Such firms are used to keeping clear tabs on costs and. in this caae, are finding electric trucks providing long-range profits despite their higher initial cost What then, should plant men conaidcr be fore they select a fork lift truck? Certainly, a manager must appraise the cost against return on investment. In conversation with a trans portation manager in a large switchgear plant in the East, it became clear that he would be reluctant to buy an electric because of its ini tially high purchase price as compared to gas trucks. His attitude neglects to consider sav ings to be realised through superior perform ance and leas maintenance. Yel plant men can benefit their companies immeasurably by pro jecting long-range costs va applications before they lay out a single cent There are Borne basic differences between gaa and electrica that should be reviewed by anyone about to buy lift trucks. These include the following operational factors: 1. The shorter the hauling distance the greater the advantage of electric trucka due to faster acceleration. This ia particularly true today, with the advent of solid-state controls on electrics. 2. On long hauls--those over MO feet--gaso line trucks have the advantage because of higher sustained speeds. With aolld-atat# controls, however, there la far lees battery < i 4 JLl , UJII HH1 <*.v--*jp-irwni itunrVn r wmmm.n> mgm LI A1430 3 ^ySUL',^Jfc -- 1 1 drain on electric powered truck*, *o that 10. Cas truck* are recommended for otf-the- peed* can and ara sustained over increas road operation because of their availability ingly longer distance*. with pneumatic tires. 3. I'k o{ haxardoui fuel* 1* eliminated when 11. tVhere plant production i* dependent oa electric truck* art used, thu* increasing industrial truck*, the dependability of elefr plant safety. A* raault. Insurance rate* art trie* I* an important factor; downtime for low*rad. electric* average* 2-3%; for gas, 10-13%. 4. Short ramp* poae no problem for electric*. For the purpose of this projection, let's con User* tend to prefer gasoline truck* on ex sider the case of on* company that 1* prepared tra-long grade* (over 10ft). But here again, to buy a new fleet of 60 truck* to replace it* at least on* user report* using a 4000-lb ca present one. it is up to the plant manager to pacity electric truck, fully loaded, on a 20 decide whether to buy gaa- or electric-powered grade, in a stop-go operation. lift truck*. He need* 3000-lb capacity unite. i. Better working condition* for employe* Gas model*, he finds, will cost him about 33000 I can b* maintained when electric trucks are each. The job calls for 60 machines, a total ex uaed--noise, beat, and combustion fume* are penditure of 3300,000. eliminated Looking at electric truck costa, on th* other 6. If trucks are uaed seasonally, gaaolin* hand, the plant man responsible for making units are usually preferred. the decision And* that th* Initial coot will b* 7. Product contamination is avoided when substantially higher than the comparable gaa electric trucks are used, since gasoline fume* model. The 3000-lb capacity truck will coat and smelly exhaust are eliminated. 36300. He also knows that It takes fewer elee- S. Refrigerated warehouse* and other areas trica to do th* same job because they require with controlled atmosphere* are usually less maintenance and have tee* downtime for worked with electric trucks. repair*. 3. Plant housekeeping is eimpllfled with elec On* rule of thumb, as indicated by user rec tric trucks. Oil drippings, exhaust dirt, etc., ords, shows that four electric trucks will re ara eliminated. Today, with the accent on place flv* gas models In most installations. To > mainten*nee, many Arm* pride themselves on be conservative, however, th* plant man selects having a truck maintenance program that SO as th* number of electric trucks needed to eliminates such oil dripping* before they get do th* job. Based on this figure, his total elec started. This waa borne out at several plants tric truck outlay will be $328,000. using gaaolin* and LP trucks. Nowhere were Next, he should take into consideration th* there any great* or oil slicks. cost of th* battery and charging equipment If HBMPUPlUgi w iuii!W.,pii'yiiu'" .... How to Find YOUR Operating Cost A Typical liawpli In tha operation conaldaiW 0 9* Oral aspmpta (coat of Owrung a true*) a OOO-powf'4 truck *N uaad for t*a ifuftS a Pay. If a |H truck wort UMd wnPar normal conpioont, tha coat par hour to opiitt K would bt $0-915 par hour --or 91 5y 'hour, rmd ths pomt on tha Mt actit of tfia nomograph. Lay a atraifMadfa through tht potf* to 0*4 rt fail* on tha cantar po*m "two afwfts.** Tha atrr ghtaPf will croaa tha right teat* at 0.205 $ hour of opratrn, Correct tha operating coat of cat trucks by tha rabo of year gaaokna coat to 274 or (for rfctrtc trucks) yoar power com to 1.5 if thay Otffar <fiiy. Corroct aftar uamg nomograph I LJCTtfC roues JOJa/hr *------ Ikto COST TO O0CMATK A OAO TRUCK COOT TO O0UATC AM CUCTRC TRUCK 0915 Mtour Anf, Wt yaar of oporabon, 0.205 $/Hour hours Shift X 2 aMftt/Aay x 259* Oaya/yaar a 4000 howrs/yaar 0315 $/howr x 4000 hourVyaar 0 205 $/hour x 4000 hourt/yaor $1205 par yaar $1149 par yaar a IMfpaA, Ok mmti MWp c. I PW^JIP mwiJJWWWHH mrm (pill' P l-W V WlfJ|ii|.ipiH!U|i I LIA1<t305 WW tfiit lim in 1*1 I`ni iwnij--niri Tt il 3 ; <# hr intend* to buy hi* batteries instead or using, uy, Exide's meter plan, hr might pay some where In thr neighborhood of $90,000 for 60 16-celi. 648 A.H. unit*. Hr alao needs charger*, which mrana an Investment of prrhapa $5500 each In 10 five circuit charger*. a total of $65,000. Now, thr uaer muat look at k>nf range prosprcta of hi* alternative truck Investment*. A check of Industry atatiatica ahowa that electric truck* outlast comparable gaa powered model* on the average of 2:1. That i. If a ra* powered truck will last five year* on a given job. an electric will last about 10 year*. Baaed on auch a life expectancy ratio, he can expect to re place hi* g*a truck* at least once during the next 12 yean. To make a fair comparison, you must take Into account the additional coat of a replace ment fleet of 60 gaa truck* bought sometime in the next 12 year*. Replacement coat win un doubtedly be higher because of inflation. *o the total coat will be considerably above that of the initial fleet purchase. What about the electric* 12 year* from now? The trucks themselves win probably be good for many more years of srnrir*. but H is true that batteries will have to be replaced. Using an arbitrary price inflation factor of 1ST (also used to determine the gas truck incre ment). each replacement batterv win coat around $2000. or a total of $100,000 for SO trucks plus the inflation factor. Chargers hare a long life and probably wont need replace ment for at least 12 wars. In adding up. then, all the electric truck costs (truck, batteries and charger plus replacement batteries), a plant supervisor will find that his company will haw to invest around $600,000 as against $638,000 for gas trucks. It la imperative for the plant man to asses* hi application* need* carefully and to Incite truck manufacturer* to demonstrate their truck*' characteristic*, before deciding on anr truck type. Plant uperri*or should also be ware of another mute to the reduction of overhead when buying lift truck*. The Elide division of The Electric Storage Battery Co. a few year* ago Introduced a unique pay-aa-yeouse-lt Meter Plan under which an electric truck user pays Exide a stipulated amount per kflowatt-hour of current used to charge the bat teries. This Is Just like paying for gaa metered out of a pump. Jerome P. Ullman. president of Federal Warehouse Co. In Peoria. 111., discusses the El ide plan with a great deal of aati*faction. "To handle some 1600 canned and dry gro cery items and tobacco products, w* seWtcd bsttery-electric vehicles--both rider typ and walkie trucks--for mast of the material han dling operations. "Ordinarily, this decision would have strained our then limited capital. "To get the advantage* and long-term aannga of electrics, we would have had to invest--be sides the amounts for the electric truck thassll which approximate the original cost of rvsdyto-go gaa trucks--substantial amounts for tho heavy duty industrial batteries and chargers to power the trucks. "In effect, we would have had to Invest our capital, in advance, in a aix-to-ten yoar amply of electric ToeT." He explained that under the Exide Meter Plan, his Arm was supplied with nearly $14,500 worth of battery and charging equipment "We made no down payment And now, we amply pay Exide monthly for the amount of battery power we use, aa measured by kilowatt-hour meter*. We alao pay our utility company for the power we use to charge the batteries but much of the current is drawn at low rates dur ing off-peak bourn." Mr. Ullman added that the "Mai feat id electricity to operate our trucks is aa kw or lower than other type* of fuel." MMT I I wjhi.. iBKiwwmi. jp*wigpiii^iiiia^ V LIA14306 .. -I.. ~-^-|r*gTf - I > tnt iVrfd^lfttoi h iii' ~r -iftiTti'-tiii" ' iVfV--- MJia