The research and development team responsible for the Yale counterbalance engine-powered lift-truck series has completed an analysis of fuel consumption on its GDP25 VX model and a number of other leading manufacturers’ products.
The information obtained from the testing carried out at the company’s Craigavon and Portland, Oregon plants has been combined with information from manufacturers’ published specification data sheets. As a result Yale has been able to produce an easy-to-use fuel cost calculator based on the VDI test cycle 2198-2002 and a Yale Productivity Cycle to help end-users make an educated purchasing decision on fuel costs for this lift-truck capacity.
Extensive product testing and competitive analysis are regularly conducted at the company’s facilities in Europe and the USA to ensure the most accurate and reliable information is always available upon which the customer can make an informed purchasing decision.
This data is used to develop new products, improve product design and verify data published in product specification materials.
In this test programme, engineers measured the fuel consumption of the 2.5 tonne Yale Veracitor VX diesel engine counterbalance lift-truck against six comparable competitor products. The data collected from both the VDI test cycle and a ‘Productivity’ test cycle, which has been developed to reflect a more demanding application, has been uploaded into a simple business tool where users can check information on current products available in this lifting capacity.
Commenting on the fuel cost calculator tool, Steve Ridgway, Yale Brand Manager EMEA, says: “The Yale fuel cost calculator is designed to provide operators of forklift trucks with an easy-to-use guide that allows them to see for themselves the savings that could be made by having the information on a number of manufacturers’ products at their fingertips.
“Operators have to enter a small amount of information on their application and fleet size, including the number of hours their fork lift trucks operate, the length and number of shifts, and the cost of fuel. The Yale calculator then uses this information to compare the cost of any one of six other manufacturer’s products against the Yale GDP25 VX model using the information they have published in their technical data sheets”.
The basis of the validation process was the VDI test cycle 2198-2002, which was strictly monitored .The VDI 2198 cycle is based around moving a capacity load between two load stations placed 30 meters apart and includes use of hoist and tilt functions. Test course is performed at a rate of one cycle per minute. The Yale Productivity Cycle measures the movement of loads around a more complex test course, and allows credit to be given to trucks that can move loads faster, by measuring the loads moved per hour, as well as the fuel used. Experienced forklift truck operators were used for the testing and spent a significant amount of time familiarising themselves with each product before undertaking each one hour test.
Steve Ridgway concludes: “Yale is focused on providing a range of products that are amongst the most ergonomic and productive and meet users’ application requirements. Driving down total cost of ownership for our customers is a key objective and one of the contributing factors is the increasing and volatile cost of fuel. We believe that Yale products are some of the most fuel and energy efficient products available in the market. Our simple fuel cost calculator for the GDP25VX, which operates in one of the biggest product segments, reinforces this.
For more information visit www.yale.com to find your nearest dealer.