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5 Things to Know Before Renting a Forklift
Announcer: Is your forklift being repaired? Do you have a sudden or a short-term forklift need? Are you interested in a new forklift but want to try it out first? If any of these scenarios apply to you, renting might be the perfect solution. But before you decide to rent, consider the following:
Number one, you need a trained operator to run the forklift at all times. Standard safety regulations don’t change for rentals. Number two, you’ll be charged for damage to the forklift, just like you would for a rental car. Don’t do anything with a rented forklift you wouldn’t do with your own, including pushing or prying things with the forks. Number three, work with your dealership on your needs. A dealership will be able to help you figure out what model you need to get your work done.
Josh Smith: As a customer, when managing your rental fleet, one of the best things to do is to stay in contact with your dealer representative. The more communication you have with your dealer representative, the more stable and the better off your rental fleet will be. As a consultant, the dealership is able to provide their knowledge and their expertise in order to make the customer more efficient and more productive with their rental fleet.
Announcer: It’s important to understand that if you use a rental forklift in an application for which it was not intended, it could cause, or be considered to cause, damage.
Number four, you can rent a forklift for many different time increments. Renting a forklift is different than renting a car. In fact, a typical rental length for a forklift is two months. Number five, renting can be a great financial decision. If you need a forklift for a short time or only for certain times throughout the year, renting might make the most financial sense as you typically won’t have to worry about maintenance costs.
For more information on how renting could benefit you, or for answers to many rental questions, contact your local Toyota forklift dealer.
Oct23
Benefits of Leasing Your Forklift from Toyota
Leasing is just one way you can choose to add a new forklift or fleet of forklifts. But there are so many different types of leases and benefits to leasing that it pays to have a good understanding of your options. Here’s why. When you choose to lease, you pay a flat monthly fee and preserve your cash flow. This helps you keep protected when inevitable financial circumstances pop up in your business.
Your business can’t operate without equipment but it also can’t survive without an emergency fund. Leasing is a great way to have both. When leasing you also only pay for the depreciation of the forklift, meaning you don’t pay the full price, only for the time you use it. Once your lease ends, you simply return the forklift and get a new lease with a new forklift.
Toyota’s business practice of Kaizen or continuous improvement means that you will always have the best, most innovative technology in your forklift fleet at all times. When you lease forklifts, you’re not subject to the useful life versus economic life calculations and missteps that many businesses that own equipment fall into. Your leased forklifts will always be in both their useful and economic lives, meaning you get the highest return on your investment.
By the time your forklift nears the end of its economic life for your application, it’s time to turn it back in and get a new one. And at the end of the lease, your responsibility for the forklift also ends. Unlike a purchase, you don’t have to find someone to take the forklift off your hand because your dealer will. When it’s all said and done, if you choose to lease Toyota forklift through Toyota Commercial Finance, you’ll also benefit from the highest end of lease residuals in the industry. The residual predetermines how much your forklift will be worth when your lease ends.
It’s no secret that the quality that is built in to every Toyota forklift helps Toyotas retain their financial value. Toyota Commercial Finance helps customers leverage the value of Toyota forklifts through high residuals, meaning customers can get into higher quality, more expensive Toyota forklifts for competitive monthly payments. Toyota forklift dealers and Toyota commercial finance representative are equipped with standard and customizable finance plans to fit nearly any business model and budget, helping you make the best financial decisions for your business.
Contact your local Toyota forklift dealer today to start your next great financial decision and learn how Toyota Commercial Finance can get you into your next forklift.
Oct18
One-Stop-Shop STARLIFT Parts Program – Toyota
What is Starlift? Starlift is Toyota Forklifts’ one stop shop parts program. In addition to Toyota Genuine Parts, Toyota dealers can source other forklift components through the Starlift Parts Program.
Starlift is made up of multiple vendors and manufacturers who provide quality forklift parts including select components that are original to your Toyota forklift. Such components include, batteries, forks, tires, and oil. As a forklift customer, the Starlift Parts Program is your one stop shop. Your Toyota dealer can source all the necessary parts.
As a dealer, Starlift provides a wide range of parts and accessories to support all your customer’s needs. Toyota Forklift dealers and Toyota certified technicians are equip with both Toyota Genuine Parts and Starlift components to keep all your forklifts running like new.
Contact your Toyota dealer today and ask about which parts program is right for you and your forklift fleet.
Oct18
Forklift Parts Kits – Toyota
What forklift parts are most important to your operations? The parts industry is flooded with competition from a handful of actual forklift manufacturers to a bucket full of third part suppliers. It’s important to know who you’re getting your parts from. Most parts of unique characteristics that are important to the overall functionality of your forklifts.
Toyota Genuine Parts are all manufactured to exact tolerances and to work seamlessly with other Toyota Genuine Parts and the original components of your Toyota forklift. Only Toyota Genuine Parts should be used as replacement parts on Toyota forklifts especially when replacing brake components, safety-related parts and accessories, and tune-up parts. Industry wide, these important parts should only come from the original equipment manufacturer to ensure proper maintenance in key parts categories, Toyota offers parts kits that include all the parts and components needed for servicing.
Toyota parts kits are designed for efficient and effective maintenance by an in house technician or by your Toyota certified tech. Forklifts are too large of an investment and too important to your supply chain to use generic cheap parts. Keep your Toyota a Toyota by only using Toyota Genuine Parts.
Find out more about Toyota Genuine Parts and what parts kits are available from your local Toyota Forklift Dealer.
Oct18
Most Commonly Replaced Forklift Parts
The periodic maintenance and replacement of specific parts on your electric and internal combustion forklifts is important for your operators safety as well as the productivity and efficiency of your operation. Just like your car, truck, SUV, or anything else mechanical when your forklift works hard for you day in and day out certain parts and components eventually need to be serviced or replaced. For some parts it’s not a question of if they need to be replaced, it’s a question of when. And when they need to be replaced depends on levels of use and sometimes total hours in service. If you wait too long, you risk unnecessary down time, which has be valued as high as $3,000 per minute. Electric forklift maintenance best practices include periodically replacing or maintaining a number of components. First up are the power steering hoses and rubber parts. Since the degradation of the power steering and rubber parts may cause operation failure, replace the power steering hoses and rubber parts every two years or 4,000 hours.
The same is true of the reservoir tank hose, wheel cylinder, rubber parts, master cylinder, and hydraulic hose. If they’re not replaced in time, they will degrade, leak, and may cause damage to other parts and components resulting in costly repairs. For the wheel cylinders, rubber parts, and master cylinders rubber parts, that means every year or 2,000 hours. Your electric forklifts rubber parts and hoses aren’t the only components that need to be periodically replaced and maintained. The lift chain should also be periodically maintained to help prevent failure due to overuse. At every planned maintenance or PM, check for elongation. When the unit reaches three years or 6,000 hours it’s time to replace the lift chain. Internal combustion or IC forklifts, and electric forklifts have nearly all the same identical parts to be periodically maintained.
But for the IC add the fuel hose to the list, it should be replaced every two years or 4,000 hours. Periodic maintenance, and replacement is critical to extending the longevity, and increasing the performance of your Toyota Forklift. By design, Toyota Forklifts are manufactured to provide easy access to the most high wear parts and components for quick and easy maintenance. A trained technician can often spot potential issues early, and keep your forklift up and running longer. Planned maintenance programs offered by Toyota Forklift dealerships are a cost effective way to extend the life of your forklift, deliver top economy, and maximize return on your investment. Along with planned maintenance is the availability of Toyota Genuine Parts. When it comes time to replace parts and components, Toyota Genuine Parts are the only parts that will perform to Toyota standards, and that can continue to support your original decision to invest in Toyota products.
After all it’s the individual parts and components that make up the value of a Toyota Forklift. For other original components, such as batteries, forks, tires, and fluids the Toyota STARLIFT parts program offers quality components from some of the largest, most trusted suppliers in the world. When you make your next forklift purchase, talk to your Toyota dealer about their planned maintenance offerings, or how you can customize one that fits your needs. To learn more about proper forklift maintenance, and Toyota Forklift dealer PM plans, contact your local Toyota Forklift dealer.
Oct18
Top Ranked Forklift Parts – Toyota
Announcer: What are the key characteristics you look for when making any sort of purchasing decision? Is it a quality product? Will it be durable and last? Is it reliable or from a reliable brand? Is the value worth the cost? We all run through these quick calculations every day from simple commodities at the grocery store, to complex purchases such as a car or a house. Since 2009, Peerless Research Group has conducted a forklift parts study where forklift purchasers ranked forklift parts brands in a number of key metrics. Toyota’s parts have consistently ranked number one in all four major categories: quality, durability, reliability, and value.
Dave Weierke: We’ve worked with after market parts. We had some four-ways that had some ignition problems and they would be brand new parts and they would be defective. So basically in our shop all we ever use is Toyota genuine parts because we don’t want to be burned again.
Announcer: Toyota genuine parts coupled with an industry leading parts warranty, highly trained Toyota certified technicians, and flexible maintenance plans ensure your forklifts continue to produce a return on your investment.
The Toyota brand is synonymous with quality, durability, reliability, and value, in large part because of the automotive business. But these key attributes translate directly to Toyota forklift and Toyota forklift parts. Take the guessing game out of your supply chain management and streamline your purchasing decisions. Trust the history, the quality, the durability, the reliability, and the value of Toyota and Toyota genuine parts.
For more information on Toyota genuine parts, or to find a maintenance plan that is best for your operation, contact your Toyota forklift dealer.
Oct18
What to Expect When Renting Forklifts
Announcer: You’ve probably rented a car, but if the time is right for you to rent a forklift you may be wondering what to expect. Actually, renting a forklift is very similar to renting a car. A lot of the same rules apply but in a slightly different way.
First, if you’re unsure of exactly what you need, don’t worry, your local Toyota Forklift dealership will be able to help you decide which forklift is right for your application. For instance, if you will be operating primarily indoors a cushion-tire model is probably best. If you need outdoor use, a pneumatic-tire model may be the better fit.
After you’ve decided on a forklift you will need to confirm with the dealership that you have a trained operator. Safety is the most important aspect of any forklift operation. If you don’t have a trained operator, most forklift dealerships offer in-house operator safety training courses. Just like renting a car, the dealership will also make sure that they have the correct billing and delivery information, and that the billing expectations are clear. It’s important that you understand and agree to the billing expectations. In most cases, maintenance is included in a rental fee, but always check to make sure that both sides understand the maintenance liability.
As with a car, look around the forklift and be sure there isn’t any damage when you take delivery. In addition to checking for damage, check for all required safety features and be sure they’re in good working conditions.
Renting a forklift can be a great short-term or seasonal fix; just make sure you understand the rental agreement and make sure the forklift is in proper condition for the work you’re going to be doing.
Josh Smith: There are several things that a customer can expect when they’re renting a piece of equipment. One of the things that they can expect is the fact that they will be getting a late-model forklift with low hours, and the lift will be in proper operating condition.
Some of the things that the customer would be responsible for is, first of all, making sure that their employees and their operators are properly trained on the piece of equipment that they are renting.
Some other things that the customer should take into account is the fact that they need to keep up with the scheduled maintenance each day before operation of the lift; doing the walk around, making sure that the oil levels are where they need to be. Checking the battery to make sure that it’s been watered; make sure it’s been charged properly. Just some of the general maintenance day-to-day things.
On a dealership-side, our responsibilities is to make sure that if you need training that we provide your operators with the proper training that they need to operate the piece of equipment. At the same time, our responsibility’s to make sure that this lift is in good running operation. So, if a circumstance arises where the truck malfunctions, the sooner a customer calls us, the faster we can respond to get that lift up and running.
Announcer: For more information on forklift rentals contact your local Toyota Forklift dealer.
Oct18
Rent vs Buy – Toyota Forklifts
Announcer: At some point, you may find that you need another forklift and you’ll be faced with a question, “Should I rent, or should I buy?” All forklift purchasing decisions are unique, and what’s good for one business may not be best for yours. Let’s consider both options.
Say you decide to buy a Toyota forklift, one of the key benefits of buying is the forklift’s residual value, and the option to sell your forklift after it has reached its useful life at your facility. Toyota forklifts hold their value very well over time, and have some of the highest residual values in the industry. If you properly maintain your forklift, and work in a relatively clean environment, your Toyota forklifts typically hold a higher resale value than other manufacturers. Another thing to consider is that there are no restrictions about how long you can or can’t keep a forklift you own, like you will find on rental units.
While purchasing is the right move for many businesses, rental options offer another set of solutions. Are you working on a short-term project, and need to temporarily add to your fleet? Or do you have seasonal jobs that require additional forklifts?
Josh Smith: One of the benefits of renting a forklift versus leasing a forklift is the fact that it requires no capital financing. It is generally used for short-term needs. You’re not tied to a long-term lease where you have contractual obligations. As your business expands and grows, and whether it fluctuates from high volume to low volume, you’re able to get the equipment that you need and return it based off your company’s needs.
Announcer: Renting also means no added maintenance costs, as it is typically included in the standard rental fee. If you only need your forklift short-term or seasonally, renting is usually the best option. Toyota’s North American dealer network covers the United States and Canada, and can partner with you to manage and maintain the appropriate fleet levels through new purchases, leases, rentals, and used forklifts.
For more information, contact your local Toyota forklift dealer.
Oct17
Toyota Forklifts & Spectra Press / Promotions
Bill F.: Everyone needs printing, we are Spectra Press and Promotions, we are a full service printing company. We deal with a lot of paper, it seems like we get a truckload every day.
About three years ago one of my best customers said to me, “We were really mad at our fulfillment house, can you help me?” And I said, “Sure I could.” And I left that meeting thinking, “Oh my gosh where am I gonna put this stuff?” We were out of room for storage so we decided to expand the building. Paper is extremely heavy and we needed a forklift.
Steve V.: At ProLift we see ourselves as business partners and consultants. Spectra’s been a good business partner of ours for every bit of 15 years. Bill and his team supply us with a lot of our sell sheets, brochures, our business cards.
Bill F.: I became a customer, I really was in love with a Toyota Lift that ProLift was offering to maximize space in my warehouse where we’re pallet racking. For loading in certain vans and unloading off of vans.
Steve V.: Ground is expensive, but most of these buildings have 25, 30 foot higher ceilings, so there’s room to go up. And that’s where a reach truck comes in.
Bill F.: The budget didn’t call for a brand new machine for sure. But I wanted that specific machine. So I told my rep that I would wait.
Steve V.: Toyota’s are built to last and they typically have more than one life.
Bill F.: So getting a refurbished piece of machinery, I knew I was getting a practically brand-new one. And so I knew that that was gonna be something that wouldn’t slow us down. It would keep us efficient, and keep us rolling.
Steve V.: A place like Spectra’s a perfect home for a truck like that. This reconditioned truck will last them for years, and it’s a huge cost savings versus going with something brand-new. We’re not just forklift trucks, we try to partner with our customers so that we can support them with everything that they would need.
Bill F.: And I said, “Can you guys do mezzanines?” And they said, “We sure can.” And they came in right in budget, what was actually quoted the first time, and it was a no-brainer.
Thomas R.: The design of this mezzanine, we wanted to get additional space, but we didn’t want to cause any destruction to their flow of business. This has added a great deal of square footage for potential growth and adding new customers for Spectra.
Bill F.: My father always said, “If you’re not growing you’re dying.” It made me feel like we grew up a little bit and we were able to have a forklift, because that’s another component in a larger type operation, and that’s what we’re always trying to strive for.
Oct17
Toyota Forklifts & Calavo
Claudio Madrid: Calavo, we’re an avocado distributor. We’re outside of Dallas. This facility is 149,000 square feet. That includes ripe room, packing room, bagging machines. We do about 210 loads here on the average month. You know, when we do have big events like the Super Bowl, that will jump up to about 350.
Randy White: Shoppa’s is a dealer for Toyota Material Handling. I’m here to basically help them move their avocados. It’s almost like avocados are their own food group here in Texas.
Claudio Madrid: They came and saw what we needed and was able to spec out a forklift to our needs, so we don’t have to interchange forklifts for certain areas of our warehouse. In our warehouse you go anywhere from two to four height.
Randy White: They also have drive-in rack, and so we were able to have a forklift made that fits exactly in their drive-in rack, that has a lowered height, that goes in and out of their dock area, but yet it reaches the top almost 20 feet in the air.
Claudio Madrid: They made it easier for us to go in there and spec out the forklifts and be able to use every single one in every area of our facility.
Randy White: So is this gonna be full here in about a month?
Claudio Madrid: Yeah, right by Cinco de Mayo.
Randy White: Their ripening rooms require things to be done in a timely manner, so if they have a piece of equipment that’s down, we’ve gotta have a technician here very quickly to get that piece of equipment back up and running.
Claudio Madrid: They’ll come and repair it and, if they can’t, they’ll give us a rental and be able to stay onboard with all our operations here.
I have worked with other lifts. I mean, I’ve been in this industry since I was 20 years old, and, for me, Toyota’s been better, less problematic, and we don’t have much issues, you know, which is very important. You can’t have issues and do your daily operations.
Randy White: As we come up with solutions for customers, it’s really just simplifying their processes, and it makes things easier and also generally finds a cost savings as well.
Claudio Madrid: At the end of the day, that avocado’s gonna be on somebody’s table, and that’s why I think it’s very important to take it serious.
We’re loading trucks quicker, we’re receiving ’em quicker, we’re doing our production in our production area a lot smoother, and there’s basically no downtime.
Lift Truck Supply, Inc.
3305 Robertson Road
Tyler, TX 75701
T: 800.873.1828
P: 903.533.9600
F: 903.533.9927
E: info@lifttrucksupplyinc.com
Oct23