Li-ion technology enhances fleet effectiveness

摘要

Allan Brothers, a century-old vertically integrated fruit company, manages its own farm acreage, growing apples, cherries and wine grapes. With 600 full-time employees and 2,500 workers during peak harvest season, the operation also packages and ships its fruit, along with third-party fruit, to locations across the United States, Canada, Mexico and other countries. In 2018, as the company prepared to install a new state-of-the-art fruit packing line-which it claims is the biggest in the world-management realized the costs associated with lead acid battery-powered electric lift trucks were adding up. Time spent ehanging batteries during shifts was costing $56,000 a year and another $7,800 a year in watering maintenance costs. What's more, the expansion required a new battery room estimated to cost another $440,000.