powered trailer dolly Archives

How to Choose The Right Electric Trailer Dolly for Your Business

The electric Trailer Dolly Makes Moving Your Trailers Easy

DJ Products makes a material handling solution for every application, but how do you decide which one is right for your business? Our experienced Sales Engineers share some helpful tips to choose the electric trailer dolly that best suits your specific needs.

Tips for Choosing the Right Electric Trailer Dolly

1. What is the weight capacity?

The whole purpose of an electric trailer dolly is to move heavy equipment, so this is the most fundamental feature. Make sure the one you select can handle the weights you work with. Don’t forget to allow for reserve capacity that will help when moving up and down inclines.

2. What kind of tires does it use?

A suitable trailer dolly should be able to accommodate the types of terrains where it will be operated. In general, single-tire dollies provide superior traction to multiple-wheel designs.

3. Does it have an optimal turning radius?

Moving trailers, automobiles, and other bulky vehicles almost always involves several turns. Look for a dolly with a smaller turning radius that will enable you to navigate tighter spaces more efficiently.

4. What type of controls are used?

No matter how many bells and whistles a trailer dolly has, complicated controls will impair their effectiveness.

Decide which style of controls is most comfortable for your use: joystick-type, remote control, or manual.
Review the instructions. Are they difficult to follow, or would a new user be quickly up to speed?
Look for ergonomically-designed controls that will help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive-use injuries.

5. Is it durable enough to withstand regular use?

In addition to moving heavy loads on a repetitive basis, a trailer dolly should be able to hold up under variable weather conditions. Look at the maintenance recommendations to ensure your company has the capability to commit to them.

6. Does it fit within your budget?

The best solution is a trailer dolly that fits your needs at a reasonable price.

Electric Material Handling Solutions from DJ Products

We offer a full line of tugs, movers, and pushers appropriate for any industry and application. Contact us at 800.686.2651 for more information.

Improve Trailer Yard Efficiency and Safety with an Electric Trailer Mover

Improved Trailer Yard Efficiency with a Powered Trailer Mover

Trailer yards are often filled with trailers that need to be moved around in order to get them ready to transport goods. This can lead to delays that affect your company’s efficiency. Using trucks or similar equipment to move trailers can result in safety risks, while also being time-consuming. An electric trailer mover provides a great solution for boosting safety and efficiency in trailer yards.

Improved Productivity

Electric trailer movers only need one person to operate them. This helps free up other workers to handle other tasks in your trailer yard. Instead of having a few or more staff members move trailers around, one worker can do that while the rest focus on loading, unloading, or doing other tasks. This helps increase productivity in your trailer yard.

Easy Maneuverability

Having to move trailers in smaller areas or make tight turns can be tough when using a truck. Electric trailer movers have a compact size that fits these spaces better. These movers are also easy to maneuver, even when making tight turns in trailer yards. This helps ensure that staff have a safer way to move trailers with a lower risk of accidents.

Versatility on Different Surfaces

Trailer yards can be covered in ice and snow or have slick surfaces due to rain. Some yards have inclines or slopes that make it harder to move trailers around. Electric trailer movers have tires that allow them to go up and down sloped surfaces with ease. They can also handle icy, snowy, or wet surfaces. This helps reduce the risk of injuries and accidents when moving trailers around your trailer yard, resulting in safer and happier employees.

Cost-Effective Solution

Trailer movers that run on electricity don’t require diesel or other fossil fuels to power them. This helps lower the cost of using this kind of equipment. Cost savings combined with improved safety and better efficiency make electric trailer movers a smart choice for trailer yards.

If you’re ready to invest in a trailer mover for your trailer yard, contact DJ Products. We can assist you in choosing the most suitable solution for improving efficiency and safety in your trailer yard.

How to Teach Your Warehouse Staff Proper Lifting Procedures to Prevent Injuries

Improve Warehouse Ergonomics

“Lift with your legs, not your back” is an oft-repeated piece of safety advice for warehouse workers, but that alone isn’t enough. Did you know that, after the common cold, low back pain causes the second-highest number of work absences? Show your staff that you prioritize their health and safety by using a motorized trailer dolly and sharing these useful tips for proper lifting procedures.

Techniques for Safe and Efficient Lifting

Prior to lifting, warm up your back and legs with some simple stretching exercises. “Cold” muscles are tight and more likely to tear. Focus on the lower back, hamstrings, and Achilles tendons.
Have an idea of the approximate weight of the object and plan how you will perform the lift.
Enlist help if necessary. One advantage of a motorized trailer dolly is that it allows a single worker to lift and transport loads weighing thousands of pounds.
Receive training before using forklifts, hoists, or other lift aids.
Clear the path of any obstructions and make sure surfaces are dry.
When performing the actual lift, place your feet far apart with one foot forward and slightly to the side of the object for optimum balance. Be sure to grasp the item firmly with both hands, each one on opposite sides.
Pivot your feet to avoid twisting, which places undue strain on muscles and joints.
People often have a tendency to hold their breath with physical exertion. Focus on breathing naturally.
Keep the object being lifted in the “power zone” by holding it directly in front of you at waist level.
Always wear personal protective equipment (PPE), including glasses, gloves, and shoes or boots.
Avoid any moves that could pinch fingers or toes.
Aim for smooth and steady movement without jerky, start-and-stop motions.
Pushing a heavy load is preferable to pulling it.

Improve Your Safety Record with Our Motorized Trailer Dolly

All of our tugs, movers, and pushers are ergonomically designed to reduce stress that can lead to musculoskeletal injuries. They also operate under battery power, which benefits the safety of our environment as well. Contact us at DJ Products to find the right material handling solution for your application.

Why Are Ergonomics Important in the Warehouse Industry

The Importance of Warehouse Ergonomics

Making sure employees are safe and improving efficiency are among the top goals for any warehouse. Ergonomics plays a key part in achieving these goals. This refers to designing or using equipment, such as a motorized trailer dolly, that helps staff do their jobs safely and efficiently. Find out more about the importance of ergonomics in the warehouse industry.

What Is Ergonomic Design?

This is a design approach that involves reducing fatigue and strain for workers when used in the warehouse industry. Many kinds of equipment are designed with ergonomics in mind, which helps improve productivity and reduce the risk of injuries and accidents.

Types of Ergonomic Warehouse Equipment

Warehouses are filled with different kinds of workspace environments, including industrial workstations and offices. Ergonomic equipment in warehouse offices often includes chairs and desks that allow workers to sit comfortably in order to reduce muscle strain and eye strain when working on computers.

Industrial workstations use ergonomic equipment that helps ease physical strain involved with moving heavy loads from one area to another. This might include the use of motorized trailer dollies instead of forklifts to make lifting and moving heavy pallets or other loads safer and easier.

Benefits of Ergonomics

Using ergonomics in a warehouse can go a long way toward raising productivity and employee morale overall. Some of the top benefits of using ergonomic equipment include the following.

Ensures Worker Safety

Warehouses have a high risk of accidents and injuries due to the physical nature of this kind of work. Using ergonomic equipment helps keep employees safer on the job, resulting in higher job satisfaction, lower turnover, and reduced costs for workers’ compensation and related expenses.

Increases Efficiency

The use of ergonomics in warehouses helps boost efficiency. This allows workers to be more productive on the job, so they can accomplish more in a shorter amount of time. An increase in efficiency helps keep warehouses functioning smoothly with lower risks of downtime and productivity loss. This helps warehouses meet goals and stay on schedule.

The right motorized trailer dolly can boost ergonomics in your warehouse. Contact DJ Products to learn more about our products.

5 Ways to Improve Your Distribution Center’s Focus on Sustainability

Improve Sustainability with a Motorized Trailer Dolly

Becoming more sustainable can help your distribution center save money, attract more business, and improve efficiency. Focusing on sustainability also helps ensure that your company stays in compliance with the latest government regulations. From using more eco-friendly equipment, such as a motorized trailer dolly, to doing energy audits, find out how you can make your distribution center more sustainable.

Conduct an Energy Audit

Boosting sustainability involves knowing where to cut back on energy usage. A professional energy audit can reveal what uses the most energy in your distribution center, such as your HVAC equipment or forklifts. This audit can help you determine which changes to make in your business for greater sustainability.

Switch to Sustainable Packaging Materials

The materials used for packaging products can end up causing a considerable amount of waste. Switch to using packaging that’s more sustainable, such as packaging made from recycled materials. Reducing packaging size as much as possible also helps cut down on waste.

Replace Older HVAC Equipment

An older HVAC system doesn’t offer the same energy efficiency as new models. Replace HVAC equipment that’s nearing the end of its lifespan with energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. This change helps promote sustainability, while also lowering your energy bills.

Change to Energy-Efficient Lighting

The kind of lighting in your distribution center can affect how sustainable your company is. Replace traditional bulbs with more energy-efficient bulbs, such as LED lights. For even more efficiency, consider using lighting with motion sensors to help cut down on energy usage. These sensors turn lights on and off as needed throughout the workday.

Invest in Eco-Friendly Equipment

Forklifts and other traditional equipment used in distribution centers typically run on gas or other fossil fuels. They also use a significant amount of energy. Consider making the switch to more eco-friendly equipment, such as a motorized trailer dolly. These trailer dollies run on electricity rather than fossil fuels. This offers a cleaner source of energy and helps reduce energy consumption.

Need help choosing the right motorized trailer dolly to boost sustainability in your company? Contact DJ Products to learn more about our material handling solutions for distribution centers and other businesses.

Improve Your Trailer Yard with an Powered Trailer Dolly and a Management System

Improve Your Trailer Yard

While warehouse operations are frequently run with the help of powerful management systems, workers in the trailer yard are often left to fend for themselves. Boost the productivity in your own trailer yard with the one-two punch of a Powered trailer dolly from DJ Products and an effective yard management system.

Warehouse Management vs. Yard Management

In general, anything between the dock doors and the gates constitutes the trailer yard. According to Colin Mansfield, vice president of Yard Management Systems, many companies treat the yard as a supersized parking lot in which the only goal is to find an open spot for trailers and containers.

With little rhyme or reason as to how loading and unloading are conducted, drivers can be left cooling their heels for hours waiting for their truck to be ready. These delays result in a trickle-down effect that can slow down other steps in the supply chain.

Today, automation can be found in everywhere in warehouses, from management systems to robotic order pickers. As sophisticated as operations are inside, Mansfield points out that yard management is still done via spreadsheets, radios, and other low-tech solutions.

Tips for Integrating a Yard Management System

Mansfield explains that incorporating a yard management system (YMS) is neither difficult nor expensive, especially if you follow these tips:

Solicit feedback from companies that are successfully using YMS.
Conduct due diligence in researching vendors.
Look for stand-alone systems with robust features that will integrate well with current systems.

Benefits of a Powered Trailer Dolly

So how does a trailer dolly help to streamline the yard?

It can be operated by a single person, freeing up employees for other tasks.
Compact size and easy maneuverability make it easy to navigate small spaces and tight turns.
Solid-tread tires enable the dolly to be operated up and down inclines and on wet or icy surfaces.
Trailer dollies are battery-powered, making them less expensive and eco-friendly.

Your Top Choice for Material Handling Solutions

DJ Products has a tug, mover, or pusher to accommodate any application. Use our online chat feature to get friendly and experienced assistance from our Sales Engineers.

How The DJ Products Trailer Dolly Improved Efficiency

Trailer Yard in Need of an Electric Trailer Dolly.

Being able to move vehicles, large loads, or other objects around outdoor lots or indoor facilities comes with numerous challenges. Traditional methods, such as using a forklift, tend to be time-consuming and raise the risk of accidents. Find out how the motorized trailer dolly from DJ Products has helped boost efficiency for businesses, including an RV dealership.

Efficient Outdoor Use

Explore RV has relied on the battery-powered TrailerCaddy 6K 36V unit to move RVs around dealership lots. Using a forklift or truck to move these around requires special training, while also increasing the chance of damage or accidents. With a trailer dolly, dealerships and other businesses have a much more efficient way to push or pull vehicles and trailers weighing thousands of pounds in outdoor areas. In fact, the TrailerCaddy 6K can move trailers and vehicles that weigh up to 50k pounds. It also comes with a 6k-pound hydraulic lift kit for ball, king pin, and pintle hitch trailer connections.

Improved Indoor Efficiency

Trailer dollies can help companies become more efficient in indoor settings. Explore RV now has an easier and less time-consuming way to move RVs and trailers around inside convention centers and other indoor areas. The company depends on these trailer dollies for moving vehicles over short distances rather than having to maneuver a forklift around in tight spots. Switching to a motorized trailer dolly can help warehouses, distribution centers, dealerships, and many other businesses with indoor facilities improve efficiency and productivity.

Enhanced Efficiency and Safety Overall

Using the TrailerCaddy has allowed Explore RV to help keep staff safe when moving RVs around. Forklifts and similar machinery require careful operation and training. Otherwise, businesses face higher risks of having workplace injuries or accidents occur. This can result in increased expenses for companies, decreased productivity, lower employee morale, and higher turnover. Using a trailer dolly instead provides a great way to improve safety and employee satisfaction.

If you’re looking for ways to improve efficiency in your facility or outdoor lot, contact DJ Products to learn more about our solutions. We can help you select the ideal motorized trailer dolly for your business to help boost safety, productivity, and efficiency.

Trailer Dolly Makes Quick Work of Moving Trailers

DJ Products Trailer Dolly

So, you need to move a full semi-trailer to the staging area for unloading, but no trucks are readily available. Precious time is lost as you hunt for a truck or some other option to fill in.

Does this scenario sound familiar? Turn these nightmares into a distant memory with the sturdy and efficient trailer dolly from DJ Products.

Why You Need a Trailer Dolly

Moving semi-trailers, boats, RVs and other large vehicles is a tedious and cumbersome job. In addition to a truck, the job frequently requires two or more employees handle the task safely.

Compare that to our trailer dollies, which come in eight different models and a wide range of configurations. Thanks to the compact size, smooth movement and ease of operation, these dollies allow a single employee to move loads from 1,000 to 100,000 pounds safely and effectively.

Features and Benefits

* All of our trailer dollies are battery-powered, making them quiet and eco-friendly. A full charge generally lasts for an entire eight-hour shift. Recharge simply by plugging the unit into a standard 120-volt outlet.

* The automatic safety brake engages when the dolly comes to a stop, holding tight even on an incline.

* Travel at speeds up to 3 MPH in both forward and reverse. Use the variable speed handlebar twist grip for smooth operation. The ergonomic design also cuts down on stress and strain that can cause repetitive motion injuries.

* The compact size and non-marking tires allow the trailer dolly to quickly and efficiently navigate tight spaces on any surface, including gravel, grass, snow and ice.

* We can adapt the hitch options to ball, pintle, gooseneck, kingpin, or whatever style of trailers you work with.

* No commercial driver’s license (CDL) is required for use. Any employee will be up and running with some basic training.

* Our trailer dollies aren’t just for trailers. Use them to move RVs and campers, boats and other heavy wheeled equipment.

Solutions for All Your Material Handling Needs

Whether you’re moving hospitality carts, dumpsters, carpet rolls or airplanes, DJ Products has the solution for your specific application. Call 800.686.2651 to learn more from our helpful Sales Engineers.

Amazon’s Delivery Dream Becomes Your Nightmare

The World Is Always Changing, Even the Way We Deliver Goods.

While Amazon has grown from a simple bookseller to a retailing behemoth, motorized trailer dollies have not been an item normally associated with the company. That may be changing as Amazon steadily works to fulfill its dream of becoming a package delivery service.

So what does this ambition mean for FedEx, UPS and other shipping mainstays? If Amazon’s track record of success is any indication, the news isn’t good.

A New Player in the Package Delivery Industry?

Amazon has continued to pay lip service to its partnership with FedEx and other delivery services, saying that its own shipping infrastructure is merely a supplement to handle excess demand. But as the online giant continues to build a network of warehouses, package sorting centers, airplanes and truck trailers, the endgame is hard to deny.

Securities filings show that in 2017, Amazon spent $13.2 billion on building its logistics networks. That amount is five times the comparable expenditures in 2015 and more than double the capital spending of both FedEx and UPS last year.

Meeting FedEx and UPS Head-On

If there was still any doubt about Amazon’s intentions, the company struck a direct blow earlier this year with the rollout of Shipping with Amazon in the Los Angeles area. While the service currently handles deliveries only for Amazon’s third-party vendors, it’s anticipated that the company will eventually move to include other cities and customers.

DJ Products Offers the Best in Motorized Trailer Dollies

Why rely on expensive outside shunting services? With our Electric Yard Dog, a single employee can easily and safely move trailers weighing up to 100,000 pounds.

Visit our website and let our friendly sales engineers help you discover which of our motorized trailer dollies is best suited for your applications.

Livestock Haulers Look to New ELD Exemption

Looking for an ELD Exemption

Here’s to lookin’ at the cargo staring back at you from your powered trailer dolly:

A hot-button issue, the Senate Appropriations Committee is seeking electronic logging device (ELD) exemptions for livestock and insect haulers, set to be required by law October 1st. Though the issue isn’t specifically addressed in the 2019 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) bill, report language encourages the Department of Transportation to further consider ELD rules and exemptions for this segment.

MOO-ve Over

The unique challenges presented by transporting live animals and insects, such as bees, critical to the agriculture industry for pollination, fall hard on the trucking industry. Hauling live organisms, far different from inanimate objects, requires the ability to keep the animals and insects safe from exposure and environmental stressors. If the ELD exemptions are not granted, drivers transporting live organisms more than 150-air-miles from their loading point will be required to turn on the devices, and prohibited from driving more than 11-hours at a time.

Buzz-Off

A top issue among ranchers and farmers who want to expand the exemption radius to 300-air-miles, the future of ELD exemptions for livestock and insect haulers remains in question. It will likely be ironed out between the House and Senate, and potentially used as a negotiation tool.

Critics against the exemption argue safety, the known consequences of tired truckers, and the industry’s continued problems surrounding compliance with hours of service regulations, with segments are already shirking requirements. Truckload Carriers Association Vice President of Government Affairs David Heller agrees that exempting parts of the industry from complying with rules and regulations is not the answer. He advocates further engagement in discussions to find alternative ways to improve compliance and safety.

Make safety an integral facet of your organization. Uncover the benefits of a powered trailer dolly from DJ Products today.