Are there any fleets that have 1400 hours a year to waste? We didn’t think so. As you know, the speed of a liftgate is crucial to a fleet’s rate of delivery. Research shows that fully-charged liftgate batteries can increase liftgate speed up to 10%. Keeping liftgate batteries at a high state of charge improves a fleet’s efficiency and lowers costs.When a liftgate operates even seconds faster than normal, drivers spend less time on deliveries and more time on the road. This means more stops can be added to routes, potentially eliminating the need for an additional truck. Let’s see how.
Say there are 100 trucks in a fleet, and each truck makes 20 stops per day, five days per week. If each truck makes five lifts per stop, and each lift takes 40 seconds to complete, the fleet will spend 555.56 hours per week just operating a liftgate. Keeping batteries at a high state of charge reduces this time and allow routes to be more efficient.
To quantify the amount of time that can be saved, let’s assume that keeping batteries at a high state of charge will allow a fleet to operate liftgates 5% faster on average. This saves two seconds per lift, which adds up to 27.8 hours per week, and over 1400 hours per year. While two seconds per lift may initially seem like a small benefit, we can see how increasing the efficiency of each liftgate in a fleet can potentially mean thousands of dollars in savings.
The ultimate goal for any fleet is to make quick and cost-effective deliveries. Keeping liftgate batteries at a high state of charge will help fleets achieve this goal and save money over time.
Are you dealing with liftgate battery issues? Are you looking for advice? We welcome your comments and questions below.
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