You feel sorry for them when you see them in the parking lot struggling with a long line of shopping carts. Cart retrieival has got to be the least-liked job among grocery store, big box and other retail employees. It might not seem like too bad a job on a nice spring day, but cruising the parking lot for carts in the blistering July heat or the pouring rain or driving snow can be brutal.
Have you ever watched a cart retrieval operation? Workers walk hither and yon in a time-consuming search for carts, gathering them into an every increasing line. Often, carts tossed into corrals must be wrenched apart with force so they can be nested together correctly for the push back to the store. Some workers will try to muscle a line of carts half an aisle long, straining to push and pull what has become the equivalent of a fixed-wheel piece of heavy equipment. They use brute force to jerk the line of carts this way and that as they try to maneuver them into the store.
Manual cart retrieval is an open invitation to worker injury. Strained muscles — particularly back, leg and arm — from muscling carts across the parking lot are common. Wrists can be sprained trying to jerk carts apart or force a line of carts into a curve. Smashed fingers are a daily occurrence. And all those injuries cost an employer money in medical bills, insurance premiums, workmen’s compensation and lost man-hours.
The shopping cart retriever system eliminates the drudgery, hard work and potential health concerns associated with rounding up shopping carts. The shopping cart retriever attaches to the back of a line of carts and can push up to 50 shopping carts, far more than even the strongest employee can attempt. With the cart pusher attached to the back of the cart train, an employee standing at the front of the line can easily steer the line of carts into the store using a remote control device to operate the retriever. Pushing the carts from behind, the retriever does all the heavy work, protecting your employees from possible injury. Click here to find out more about the handy shopping cart retriever.