If you are opening up a warehouse business, then you need to appreciate that your staff will be working at heights. Notably, scissor lifts are a necessity in the warehousing business. However, for a startup warehouse business, you are better off renting such equipment as opposed to buying. That said, it is not enough to rent a scissor lift and begin operations immediately. You need to consider some factors before commencing work. Read along to find out the most important aspects to consider before you put a rented scissor lift hire to use.
Insurance
Rental firms usually insure their equipment when renting out to clients and with good reason. However, you can never be too sure as a client because all scissor lift hire firms do not insure their machines. Therefore, you must confirm whose responsibility it is to protect the scissor lift. If it is the rental company's responsibility, then ask them to issue you with proof of the cover. The last thing you need is a word of mouth assurance on such matters. If the responsibility lies with you, then you have to include the scissor lift cover in your business insurance as part of equipment hiring expenses.
Latest Specifications
Warehouses change depending on different factors such as an increase in the volume of clients' inventory. Such changes might include shelf heights or tighter aisles. Whichever the case, such alterations might call for an upgrade of the scissor lift in use. Therefore, it is critical to keep up with the latest specifications and development of scissor lifts. For instance, if the reach of shelves increases, you might need to ditch your current scissor lift and hire one that can scale the new heights.
By the same token, if the aisles get narrow, you may need to hire scissor lifts that can squeeze into the confined spaces. Notably, making the right hiring decision requires a good understanding of the needs of a workplace as well as the latest scissor lift technologies to help meet the requirements.
Continuous Training
As mentioned previously, scissor lift technology changes with time. However, one thing that most warehouse managers tend to forget, especially newbies, is such changes must be complemented by continuous on-job training of scissor lift operators. Importantly, it is dangerous to expect an operator to work on the latest scissor lift with obsolete knowledge. As such, put arrangements in place for refresher training of operators, especially on emerging scissor lift technology.
