Crown Equipment Corporation, is sharing insights with counterbalance forklift owners seeking to best manage their industrial equipment investment. The company’s new white paper, “The True Cost of Ownership for Counterbalance Forklifts: Understanding the Impact of Hidden Costs,” explores how performance and durability, service and maintenance, and ergonomics can impact overall expenses. The white paper can be downloaded now on crown.com.
“The best criterion for selecting a counterbalance truck is total cost of ownership,” said Andy Smith, director, marketing product management, Crown Equipment. “However, this number can be extremely difficult to calculate accurately. Every manufacturer seems to have their own formula, which often seems to favor their own truck compared to competitor offerings. This has made many purchasers rightly skeptical of the real cost of counterbalance forklifts. While some costs are straightforward and easy to measure, such as initial cost and energy costs, this white paper is designed to raise awareness of the costs that can be less predictable. Not surprisingly, the forklift with the lowest purchase price is usually not the one with the highest long-term value.”
The white paper illustrates how important it is to take a more comprehensive approach to understanding the true cost of ownership for counterbalance forklifts. For instance, many purchasers do not factor in the economics of ergonomics and how a forklift designed to increase operator comfort increases productivity. Also, the cost of ownership for a counterbalance forklift can increase when spare parts are used from a source other than the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). These parts may seem as if they will work; however, often times they do not perform to OEM standards.
