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Cold store operations are one of the
toughest material handling challenges.
Not only do the sub-zero temperatures
affect your trucks’ battery capacity,
electronics, lubrication, bodywork and
drivers’ ability to operate the truck,
the need for high storage density can
reduce selectivity and throughput.
However, working with suppliers like
UniCarriers can help you design your
cold store operation and forklift truck
fleet to deliver the highest operational
output.
It is easier and cheaper to keep a cold
store as heavily stocked as possible.
This reduces the amount of energy
required to keep the store at very low
temperatures. The downside of this
is reduced handling capacity so it’s
important to strike the right balance
between storage density and selectivity
when you are designing your cold store.
Conventional Adjustable Pallet Racking
rarely provides the lowest storage cost
in cold stores, since the floor utilisation
is low, so it’s worth considering
alternative racking technologies such
as double-deep racking, mobile racking,
drive-in racking, flow-through racking
and satellite storage. The UniCarriers
‘Logistics Analyser’ is a powerful
simulation tool that allows us to design
and calculate your cold store in order to
achieve that important balance between
density and selectivity.
Very cold temperatures reduce a truck’s
battery capacity by about 1% per degree
below 20°C. It might also disturb the
truck electronics, make the oil thicker
and more viscous, and make the metal
(especially the welding joints) more
brittle. Fortunately, all UniCarriers trucks
are designed to perform optimally in
the toughest conditions. In chill store
operations, they need no modifications
at all, but in cold store operations
with temperatures down
to -35°C, some adaptations
are necessary to achieve
efficiency and reliability. One
example is when we choose
the steel quality and welding
technique: we always make sure
that it works down to at least -35°C.
Cold Store Trucks
But keeping trucks in temperatures
of -27°C is not the main problem; it
is constantly taking them from the
frozen environment out into ambient
temperatures and back again. Metal
contracts when frozen and expands
when warmed up, which can create
problems when moisture from the
atmosphere refreezes. Condensation
is perhaps the biggest technical issue
for your cold store operations. At
temperatures below the dew point of
6°C, the truck will be affected. If you
have seen a truck coming out of a cold
store and growing whiter from frost, it’s
easy to understand how this can cause
all sorts of problems. Outside of the
cold store, the frost melts into water
so when the truck re-enters the cold
store the water will freeze to ice. If this
happens a few times a thick ice coating
will cover parts of the truck and could
cause component damage.
UniCarriers recommend
the following:
■
Keep the truck in the cold store.
When changing batteries, bring
the battery to the truck and not the
truck to the battery. If you have to
leave the cold store, stay outside
long enough to allow the truck to
dry completely. This time can be
shortened by blowing hot air over
the truck with big ventilators.
■
If you frequently have to drive in
and out of the cold store, ensure
you make the stays inside as short
as possible and the stays outside
as long as possible, so that the
temperature of the truck never
goes below 0°C.
■
If this is difficult, try to do
it the other way around
and spend as much time
as possible inside and
as little time as possible
outside. The idea here
is that the temperature
of the truck never goes
above 0°C.
Another problem with
cold store is keeping the
operator warm. Wearing
more and thicker clothes,
as well as thicker shoes,
gloves and caps, makes it
more difficult to operate
the truck and remain
sensitive to driving and
lifting feedback. The
trucks in the UniCarriers
Tergo series are available
with specially designed
heated cabins to help
improve ergonomics and
operator efficiency in cold
store operations.
48
Logistics Business Magazine | November 2015
COLD STORE TRUCKS