Warehouse managers are under pressure to save money and make their operations work faster and smarter. "These days, everyone is trying to force out costs and improve efficiency," notes John Colborn, reach truck marketing director for the Raymond Corporation in Greene, N.Y. "The warehouse is now becoming a focal point for these initiatives."

One place they're looking for improvements is their lift-truck fleets. At the top of many a checklist is the power that keeps those trucks moving. Rising costs for gasoline and related fuels are likely to prompt warehouse managers to rethink their choice of a power source for their trucks. "If gasoline and fossil fuels stay up in the two-dollar range, companies may start looking at electric-powered vehicles as an option for fuel-cost savings," predicts Robert McAdam, president of RDM Consulting in Greenville, N.C.

Buyers aren't focusing just on fuel costs, though. Truck makers say their customers are examining every opportunity to boost their vehicles' efficiency, including taking advantage of new developments in fleet management software and weighing a move from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) technology.

One thing's for sure: When it comes to power, lift-truck buyers are no longer willing to settle for the same old thing. They need a variety of options, and industrial truck makers are working hard to meet those demands. Here's what's happening in the market now, along with a look at what the future may hold.

Electric trucks rule the roost in the United States. Last year, for example, manufacturers shipped 77,122 electric rider and motorized hand trucks and 63,365 internal combustion (IC) engine vehicles. That's a fairly typical split: In recent years, electric trucks have comprised about 55 percent of annual industrial truck shipments. (See the chart, at right.)

That percentage appears to be growing. "We're seeing a lot more of our clients switching from propane gas and diesel trucks to electric trucks," says Jack Kuchta, executive vice president of consultants Gross and Associates in Woodbridge, N.J. The reasons behind that trend, he says, are that over the long term, electric trucks are easier and less expensive to maintain, and concerns about indoor air quality are becoming a more important factor for many companies.

Electric vehicles, in fact, have a clear edge indoors. "In storage areas, which are driven by cubes, height, and velocity of movement of pallet storage and retrieval, the demand for electric trucks is growing," Colburn says.

In outdoor dock areas, though, IC trucks continue to retain a strong presence. Kuchta doesn't anticipate that electrics will completely replace gasoline, propane, and diesel equipment. "I don't think the internal-combustion trucks will ever disappear, especially when it comes to outdoor use," he says.

Bill Buckhout, manager of fleet management services for Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks in Houston, Texas, agrees that IC units aren't yet on the ropes. "Given the kinds of things that are being done with new combustion technology and environmental controls, internal-combustion trucks are still popular and will continue to be for a while," he says.

Both internal combustion and electric-powered motors may soon face a serious contender for market share. Hydrogen-powered trucks that could be faster, cheaper, and easier to fuel up are now being field tested and could be on the market soon. (See "Hydrogen: Fuel of the Future?" on Page 68.)

Lift-truck motors traditionally have been designed to operate on DC power, with electrical current flowing in one direction. Most manufacturers continue to make DC equipment, complete with new advances. But virtually everyone is looking at AC technology, which works on a current that reverses direction within a circuit at regular intervals.

Some truck makers, in fact, are planning to jettison DC equipment altogether. "DC lift trucks will completely disappear, at least in our company," says David Hoehn, vice president of sales for Hyster Co. in Greenville, N.C. Hyster is currently replacing DC motors with more-expensive AC motors in its top-of-the-line Class 1 models, and will do the same with its second-tier Class 2 line next year. For the time being, Hyster will keep DC in its Class 3 lineup because it's not yet cost-effective to introduce AC technology at that price level, Hoehn says.

Why such a concerted shift to AC motors if they are so expensive? As batteries discharge, they lose voltage; as voltage diminishes, so does a lift truck's performance in terms of speed and acceleration. This loss of performance is significantly diminished with AC motors. "You can maintain the fully-charged operational characteristics almost through the whole discharge process of the battery," Colborn explains.

AC power requires fewer battery changes because it needs less amperage and thus uses a battery's energy more efficiently. What's more, AC motors have fewer moving parts, which means extended service intervals and better reliability. "AC reduces the cost of operation by reducing the number of components, one of which is motor brushes, which are a high-cost maintenance item over the life of a truck," Colborn says.

These motors, moreover, make for a smoother ride. "When you press the accelerator of an AC technology unit, you get smooth acceleration and change of direction without hesitation," observes Hyster's Hoehn. "It also provides better ramp-holding capability; that is, when you want to stop or slow down on a ramp, you don't roll back," he adds.

There is a potentially costly downside to AC motors, though. "AC units tend to run hotter," admits Hoehn. As a result, he says, a cooling system such as a fan that runs on the end of the motor or on the controller is a necessary add-on.

The drive to improve warehouse efficiency at a reasonable cost is pushing companies to seek out new twists in existing ways of managing lift-truck fleets. A new type of "quick charge" battery, for example, promises to deliver faster, easier charging and fewer battery changes. This technology allows for "opportunity charging," which can be done during a lunch break or other short period of time, as opposed to the typical eight-hour charge, which requires two to three batteries for an operation with three shifts a day, explains Hoehn.

"If done properly, quick-charge technology may allow you to reduce the number of trucks you need, or at least allow you to reduce the number of batteries, from maybe 2.5 to 1.5 per truck," Hoehn says. But it takes some cost and effort and to get the full benefit from quick-charge technology. "It requires lot of wiring changes. It requires moving chargers to where the trucks are, rather than trucks coming to the chargers," he cautions.

To help them choose the right power option when buying new lift trucks—and to ensure they get the most out of the ones they already have—warehouse managers are turning to fleet management software. "There is no substitute for a good fleet management system, especially as it relates to the cost of damage to products, the cost of abuse to the equipment, the cost of downtime due to using older equipment, and so forth," emphasizes Mitsubishi's Buckhout.

The more information you have about your lift-truck system, the better you can control costs, says Raymond's Colborn. Like several other industrial truck manufacturers, his company offers software that helps customers gather and analyze performance and cost data, broken down by truck, facility, region, and company. Using those reports, lift-truck operators can potentially reduce the size of their fleets by 10 to 20 percent, he says.

Most fleet management packages can measure such performance indicators as vehicle usage, engine heat, battery discharge rates, and recent physical impacts. Now fleet management software is getting even more sophisticated. A new generation of what Buckhout calls 'vehicle managers' can record how many times a truck has traveled down a certain aisle, for example, or how many feet it has traveled between lifting cycles. These programs also can verify that a truck has lifted loads to the fourth tier of storage racks 80 percent of the time and to the first tier 10 percent of the time during a shift.

"In an efficient warehouse, of course, you want this to be just the opposite," observes Buckhout. "The new 'vehicle managers' will help you tailor your trucks to the applications and also help you maximize the efficiency of the equipment in each application."

Warehouse managers who are searching for a "silver bullet" that will guarantee more economical lift trucks are unlikely to find one. Each company's product mix, customer requirements, and business conditions are so different that no one solution can meet every shipper's needs.

Instead, they need to evaluate all of the different power options that are available today in light of current demands. And rather than settle for the same old thing, they can keep an eye on up-and-coming technologies like quick-change batteries and hydrogen-fueled trucks. One of the new developments could hold the key to solving their existing problems and meeting future needs.