Latest update February 23rd, 2017 8:43 PM
How do Vehicle Lifts Relate to Shop Efficiency?
Printed in May 2012 Fleet Maintenance Magazine – www.VehicleServicePros.com
Contributions by: Steve Perlstein
Shop productivity increases can be achieved by choosing the appropriate vehicle lift. Having the proper, most efficient lift for the intended application equates to helping a fleet have its vehicles spend more time on the street rather than in the shop.
“A higher percentage of usability of a fleet keeps more vehicles available, in use or making money for the company,” says Steve Perlstein, sales and marketing manager for Mohawk Lifts, a leader in lift technology (www.mohawklifts.com).
Regardless of what type lift a shop uses, there are increases in efficiencies to be had, he says. One specific example is the lifting speed of a mobile column lift.
Mobile Column Lifts
“There are two types of mobile lifts: screw drive or hydraulic drive,” explains Perlstein. “A screw drive takes two to three minutes to reach full height and to drop down, while some hydraulic mobile lifts take just 60 seconds fort each operation.
“If a technician was to raise and lower a screw-driven lift four times a day, the efficiency difference is 20 minutes a day. Over a 200-day work year, the technician will have spent 26 hours raising and lowering a hydraulic mobile lift versus 80 hours operating a screw-drive mobile lift.
“If your internal overhead shop rate is $50 per hour, the efficiency difference in these two types of mobile lifts is $2,700 a year, every year, year after year.”
Fastest Lift
The fastest lift to use is a drive-on lift, Perlstein says. Drive-on lifts range from the more popular four post type to parallelogram and scissor style lifts.
The speed of using drive-on lift, as the name infers, is that vehicles can be simply driven on the lift,” he says.
Automotive Lift Journal
Since 1981 Mohawk has manufactured the highest quality, safest auto and truck garage lifts available. We say this with confidence because we have thousands of lifts in the field today that are 25+ years old, and still used everyday and will still be used for years to come. Mohawk is the #1 lift supplier for all government, state, utility, and fleet lifting requirements. Mohawk’s popularity is based on a combination of safety systems, design, construction, and the most inclusive warranty in the lift industry. Mohawk Lifts are proudly designed, welded, and manufactured in the U.S.A. Mohawk Lifts factory is located in upstate N.Y.
