Safety and efficiency are always top of mind at Lynden locations. At Alaska Marine Trucking in Juneau, Karter Koelsch, along with Andy Raber from Alaska Marine Lines Seattle and others, came up with a new invention that promotes safety and convenience.
“The snow chains for the forklifts used to get placed on the counterweights,” explains Karter, Alaska Marine Trucking’s Freight Operations Lead. “When the SEEN sensors were installed on the counterweight, the snow chains lost their spot. They got tucked away by the stairs to the forklift cab, or on the forklift top picker flat – neither were ideal locations.”
The stairs were a potential tripping hazard and the top picker flat didn’t always travel with the forklift, leaving the lift without snow chains. “A few years ago, we started talking about installing hooks or baskets for the snow chains on the side of the forklift. We found an unused space on the side that was a couple feet off the ground,” Karter explains. “We mocked up a grate basket with a rubber mat glued on the walls to protect the forklift (see photo). It works great and has taken away the clumsiness of storing snow chains.”
The new baskets have already been installed on 10 forklifts with more Southeast locations to go.
Topics from this blog: Lynden Alaska Marine Trucking Lynden Employees Safety Alaska AML Featured