Tag: electric carts

Mexico Hospital Holds US Citizen Hostage Over Unpaid Bills

powered housekeeping cartDespite the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the United States has continued to struggle with the problem of spiraling healthcare costs. For one woman from Idaho, the issue crossed international borders and has taken on nightmare proportions.

Medical Care or Extortion?

During a vacation to Mexico with her sister-in-law, 67-year-old retired high school teacher Vikki Moormann began experiencing uncontrollable vomiting. Doctors at the Hospital San Javier Riviera Nayarit diagnosed Moormann with a urinary tract infection and the initial stages of pneumonia.

The story took a bizarre turn when Moormann claimed that the hospital wouldn’t allow her to leave until she paid her bill, which had risen to $40,000. A hospital representative denied the accusation, blaming the media and Moormann’s son Ryen for sensationalizing the situation.

The Situation Escalates

While Ryen attempted to raise the funds by setting up a GoFundMe page, Moormann was able to pay only $6,000 of the total charges. Moormann offered to make monthly payments, and her family contacted both the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Consulate, but nothing has been resolved.

In a conversation posted on his Facebook page, Ryen Moormann was told by another hospital representative that his mother would not be released until the bill was paid in full. When Fox News contacted Vikki Moormann, the phone cut in and out until they were informed that she was “busy.”

The Solution to Moving Heavy Hospital Carts

Whether your hospital cart needs are foreign or domestic, ask yourself if your employees struggle with moving hospital carts through busy hallways and tight quarters? Visit our website for information about electric tugs and pushers such as the CartCaddyLite from DJ Products.

Reducing Injury Risk for Hand Truck Operators

A recent case study of the beverage industry by ergonomic consultant ErgoWeb studied injury risk factors for hand truck operators and prevention protocols. The study’s findings have obvious parallel implications for any business or industry that utilizes manual hand trucks.

The study was prompted by significant musculoskeletal stress injuries — particularly back injuries — reported by delivery workers. Similar injury rates are common in any environment where materials are constantly loaded and unloaded and where hand trucks are used to maneuver and transport materials. Affected businesses include delivery firms, moving companies, shipping operations, loading docks, groceries, retail and big box stores, warehouses, fulfillment centers, storage facilities, auto service centers, manufacturing plants, supply centers and many others.

The study found that maintenance and weight distribution issues resulted in the greatest number of operator injuries. The highest risk of potential injury was attributed to the following:

  • Underinflated hand truck tires which placed undue stress on the musculoskeletal system.
  • Unequal weight distribution of product cases increased back compressive force during lifting, increasing the risk of back injury.
  • Improperly located product required twisting and lifting from un-optimal heights, increasing risk of back and shoulder injuries.
  • Improperly balanced hand truck loads placed unnecessary musculoskeletal stress on workers.

While new loading patterns, better hand truck maintenance and improved operator training can help reduce injury risk, a far more effective solution is to replace manually operated hand trucks with ergonomically-designed electric carts and tugs. Powered carts allow a single operator to easily transport and maneuver maximum loads without risk of injury. Adjustable handholds, adjustable speed controls, adjustable beds, scissors lifts, powered platforms and other ergonomic features allow loads to be handled at optimal levels to significantly reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injury. 

If you want to reduce the risk of worker injury in your facility, talk to the experts at DJ Products about replacing your outdated hand trucks with ergonomically-designed powered carts and tugs.

Predicted Material Handling Slowdown to Be Short Lived

The predicted slowdown in the material handling industry is expected to be short lived, said Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) executives in a news conference last week. After a strong period of growth, contraction and consolidation are expected for 2008 and 2009 before the industry resumes growth in 2010.

“We have had double-digit growth for the last few years,” said MHIA executive VP of business development Hal Vandiver. “But there is a business cycle.” The slowdown is expected to be felt hardest in logistics sectors of the $156 billion material handling industry.

Overall consumption of material handling equipment is expected to contract by 5% over the next two years with new orders decreasing by 5% to 7% and shipments declining by 2% to 4%. High fuel costs are one factor contributing to declining diesel forklift sales. Industry is switching to more energy-efficient and maneuverable electric and battery-operated motorized carts and tugs.

The poor economy is also having an effect on the material handling industry. Many companies are deferring capital equipment purchases until the economy picks up. Fewer system-wide equipment purchases are expected in the next couple of years in favor of individual item and small order solution-specific purchases.

The graying of the American workforce as Baby Boomers aged, coupled with escalating health and insurance costs focused emphasis on ergonomic design in the material handling industry. As the Boomer generation retires, the importance of ergonomic design is expected to increase as the available workforce shrinks. Equipment that can be used safely and efficiently by workers of varying body type, height and strength will be vital to industry success.

Material Handling Industry Moving to Clean, Green Electric Carts

“Cleaner, greener, smarter.” That’s how John Teresko characterized the material handling industry’s shift to electric battery-powered vehicles in a recent online article on Industry Week. “While the continuing transition to electric battery-powered lift trucks may suggest only environmental concern, the trend is really part of a broader search for new levels of performance and productivity,” he said. Over the past decade sales of electric trucks have gradually overtaken and surpassed sales of internal combustion models. The move to electric power is the most significant, most evident trend in the material handling industry.

While Teresko happened to be writing about forklift trucks, the move to clean-energy, electric battery-powered carts and tugs is universal across the landscape of the material handling industry. Fueled by a growing concern for the environment and skyrocketing fossil fuel costs, savvy businessmen have been trading in their gas- and diesel-powered vehicles in favor of cleaner, cheaper-to-operate electric battery-powered equipment. With the capacity to operate a full shift without recharge, electric battery-powered material handling equipment provides significant energy savings without any loss of productivity.

What Teresko didn’t mention is that forward-thinking manufacturers and business owners are moving away from forklifts altogether in favor of cheaper, more versatile, more efficient, safer, ergonomically-designed powered carts and movers. Heralding the next significant shift in the material handling industry, manufacturers are replacing forklifts with highly maneuverable powered movers that allow greater flexibility of use. Their smaller size and ability to maneuver in tight spaces and highly trafficked areas allow motorized carts and powered cart movers to be employed in a wide variety of tasks, increasing the flexibility and versatility of your material handling equipment resources.

Receiving equal consideration is the appallingly high accident/injury rate associated with forklifts. Ergonomically-designed powered carts, tugs and movers have a proven track record of reducing accidents and musculoskeletal injuries. Switching to ergonomically designed electric battery-powered movers results in a significant savings in medical, insurance, disability and workers’ compensation costs and has been proven to reduce absenteeism and lost man-hours. Investment costs are routinely recouped in the first year after purchase. Ergonomically-designed electric battery-powered material handling equipment is the industry’s next most important trend and savvy business owners are getting onboard.

Electric Carts Ease Strain of Push-Pull Tasks

Pushing and pulling are the two most required actions in industrial and business settings. Unfortunately, pushing and pulling can place extreme stress on a worker’s body, often resulting in back, groin and other musculoskeletal injuries. Injuries can cost an individual business thousands of dollars each year in medical, insurance, disability and lost man-hour costs. An ergonomically designed electric cart pusher and motorized cart puller eliminates the physical strain of manually pushing and pulling heavy carts and wheeled equipment. An investment in ergonomic equipment is a sound investment in the health and safety of your workforce that can save your business thousands of dollars in unnecessary medical and insurance costs.

In manufacturing and distribution settings, the most common solutions to material handling tasks are:

  • to place products, parts and equipment on pallets for handling or
  • to utilize racks, carts and casters to move materials.

Electric carts come in a variety of shapes, sizes and configurations to fit the demands of the task and the capabilities of your workforce. An ergonomically-designed cart mover reduces the amount of force that must be exerted by the operator to maneuver a load. Various cart and wheel configurations are available to meet the needs of any task.

  • Carts, racks or equipment with casters can be easily turned and maneuvered with a CartCaddy power tug that feature a 5th wheel turning method.
  • Carts, racks or equipment with 4 swiveling casters require a cart with back end control.
  • Specialized CartCaddies and an electric tug have been designed to handle carts or equipment that have straight wheels or are on a rail.

Visit the DJ Products website to view our complete line of ergonomic electric carts, trucks and lifts. We offer ergonomic solutions for material handling applications.