Controlling Your Warehouse's Rolling Carts
Rolling carts can be useful for a number of warehouse tasks, so it's likely that you'll pick up a few throughout the years. However, you may be puzzled when you can't move a cart as easily as you'd like, or worse, find that some carts easily get away from you and slam into pallet racks or employees. Luckily, the following solutions are available.
Get Casters with Installed Brakes
When you purchased your carts, you might not have paid attention to whether brakes were attached or not; your focus might have been size or style. You can fix this oversight by purchasing steel casters that are already outfitted with brakes. These brakes can typically be applied by stepping on levers that are mounted onto the casters, allow you to engage and disengage them as needed.
Respect Load LImits
Piling things onto your carts can seem normal, but if you're finding that it's difficult to get the carts moving after loading them up, that is something that needs attention. You may imagine weight is the reason that you can't get the carts around as fast as you'd like, but it may be that you have overloaded them past their weight limits. In fact, you might have bent some of the steel casters with all that extra weight and a few of the carts might not be movable at all. The manufacturer of your rolling carts has likely laid out what those limits are and you overlooked them. Find the cart manual online or contact the manufacturer to discover what limits exist, and then respect those limits. You'll find the carts are easier to push and move.
Try Traction Tape
An easy solution to carts that seem to slide and slip all over the warehouse floor is to get some traction tape. This tape can be put on wheels and you'll have more control over the cart's movements.
Buy Bigger Casters and Wheels
The standard small wheels on carts may not have sufficient surface area; that means that they could need a stronger effort from you before they move. You may try getting bigger steel casters and wheels so that you can have an easier time; they should require less pushing to start moving.
With any of the solutions here, you may find your carts easier to control. Discuss cart and caster issues with local retailers who can suggest additional tweaks and ideas. Check out websites like http://www.garlandsinc.com for more information.