

The global worker shortage and high warehouse labor turnover means that inexperienced warehouse lift truck operators are increasingly common. And inexperience can risk lift truck incidents such as collisions and tip overs. Approximately 7,300 lift truck-related incidents occur each year, and warehouses experience illness and injury rates that are significantly higher than those experienced by other industries, a fact that has led OSHA to create a three-year-long national emphasis program focused on warehouse safety.
This increased risk of incidents and injuries can in turn threaten productivity, but warehouses are still expected to get every order out the door on time, every day. Yale has developed a number of lift truck technologies to help warehouse operations remain productive while managing these safety concerns, including their Advanced Dynamic Stability (ADS). Previously exclusively available as part of the Yale Reliant operator assistance technology, which recently reached 14 million hours of total real-world operation, ADS recently launched as an accessible standalone solution for operations with needs that may not warrant an investment in the detection or infrastructure required for other technologies in the Yale Reliant suite.
ADS continuously monitors forklift and load status and automatically applies interventions in response to compromised stability. Adjustments, such as a reduction to travel speed or a smoothing of fork lift or tilt movement, are carefully measured to avoid abrupt shifts or jerks that can upset stability.
Real-world capabilities of ADS include:
• Preventing operators from lifting and carrying loads that exceed the truck’s weight limit
• Automatically reducing speed when cornering to maintain stability
• Automatically smoothing fork lift and tilt movements when masts are moved too quickly or too far with loads in unfavorable positions
• Monitoring the combined center of gravity of the lift truck and load so that it can automatically intervene when necessary in a way that does not upset truck stability
ADS, like the other Yale Reliant technologies (object detection, proximity detection and real-time location sensing), is the result of more than 40,000 hours of research and development. The larger Yale Reliant solution, including ADS, is now available on 59 lift truck models and has been deployed on 6,000 units worldwide.
Category:IndustrialYear:2024Designers:Ed Stilwell, Yale Lift Truck Technologies, Raleigh, North Carolina, USAManufacturer:Yale Lift Truck Technologies, Greenville, North Carolina, USA