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Posted By Ian_P
Hiya,
Hope you are well, need advice / ideas on the following.
We deliver large 200litre barrals of oil, adblue etc to customer's premises. These are delivered in small vans.
On most occasions the customer is present and unloads using a fork lift truck or other lifting mechanism. However, frequently customers are not present and the barrals are left in an agreed area.
With regards to manual handling this poses a problem for the delivery guy as these barrells (200l) are very heavy & the packaging is not that robust (i.e. the plastic type barrels cannot simply be rolled off the van onto the floor below).
I have expressed my views that, if the customer is not present, then the delivery should not be made and instead be rearranged. I have been asked the question of what engineering / mechanical solutions etc are available.
I have seen barrel lifters which are very expensive and not easily transportable in a small sized van. Is there any viable (if a solution is too costly it is not worth us offering the delivery service) solutions out there - except for a dray style cork mat!
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Posted By John D Crosby
Hi Ian
One solution would be to use Razorback vehicles which allow the floor to be dropped to ground level and then the barrel could be rolled out. However this is likely to be expensive if you need to replace the fleet. Your idea of the cork filled bag (pig)as used by brewery companies is a bit dated. The modern version is a foam pad which will cushion the fall of the barrel and hold it steady - pigs tend to cause the barrel to roll away. Pigs also break up easily whereas the pads, known as Vita Pads, are long lasting and have a replaceable cover. The pads come in a variety of sizes. They are very good at protecting goods dropped onto them.
Just Google Vita Pads for details.
John C
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Posted By jayjay
Ian,
You can always get your FLT fitted with a Barrel grab attachment and get you FLT operatives trained to use them. Just a thought.
Regards, JJ
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Posted By GeoffB4
That's the problem, there isn't an FLT there everytime!
Seems to me Ian, a complete rethink is required. I don't think it is feasible to continue to deliver large drums in a small van if you don't have your own facilities for dropping it off at the 'point of use'.
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Posted By Ian_P
Thanks for your replies.
As I feared, we will have to look into alternative arrangements - possibly pushing the benefits of bulk storage.
I was kind of hoping there would be a portable, viable, lifting mechanism / tool without going down the road of large machinery such as tail lifts, FLT jobs etc.
Cheers anywho.
Ian
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Posted By Phill Galpin
Just a thought and may not be possible, why not luck at the options for using smaller drums that are more easy to handle. We had a problem storing and handling large drums and when we actually looked at what we were using the substances for and how often we changed the drums we were able to switch to smaller containers albeit delivered more frequently.
regards
Phill
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Posted By ianmilne69
Ian, suggest you examine how the other agents or volvo deliver the adblu (is it more practical to sell in the IBC size). I can also see that you have a manual handling problem (200kg) within a confined space (crouching tigers in van, oops sorry).
In the past, Ive seen some delivery drivers in other industries use a shute type device (on rails in back of van) that rolls out and slides towards floor of which it lands onto a tyre or something to stop the bottom cracking or barrel rolling away. Pluses and minus in whatever solution you consider. Most prefer to use tail-lifts though.
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Posted By Mitch
Ian,
You mention that prearrangement can be made for unattended drops so I am assuming it is safe to do so? If this is the case why do you not decant into empty containers left on site by your customers? If manual syphoning is a problem you can now bu (battery) drill operated pumps from all good DIY shops.
Mitch
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Posted By Ian_P
Dispensing isn't really practical and opens up a can of worms with regards to some of the hazardous & flammable substances we deliver from time to time.
I think we're gonna push bulk deliveries to be delivered by FLT. I think we make more money off IBC's anyway...... ;-)
Until that happens we'll request assistance at point of sale.
Cheers y'all.
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