From new-age power packs to advanced data-acquisition packages, technology is reshaping the workhorses of material handling.
“Fast-charge technology has been there awhile, but it’s taken some time for the battery manufacturers to buy into it,” notes Martin Boyd, national product planning manager for Toyota Material Handling USA Inc. Concerns that the heat generated from charging would damage batteries and shorten service life have been disproved, and fleet managers are becoming comfortable with the technology. Charger suppliers also are shifting toward alliances with lift truck manufacturers, scrapping earlier efforts to work with battery manufacturers. Instead of two or three batteries per truck, fast- and opportunity-charging result in one battery per truck, which puts a crimp into battery sales.