The buzzwords “sustainability” and “efficiency” have permeated all aspects of business. Not-so-surprisingly, the phrases also are hot topics for companies when they make decisions about lift trucks, according to New Bremen, Ohio-based Crown Equipment Corp. Its “Forklift User Survey” found that 83 percent of respondents think sustainability is important when making lift truck purchasing decisions, while energy efficiency was highlighted by 95 percent of survey-takers.
Crown Equipment’s survey also found that 51 percent of respondents increased the size of their fleets in the three years before summer 2011. In the same time period, fewer than 10 percent reduced their fleets, it found. Looking forward, 50 percent of survey-takers expect that their fleets will stay the same size and 47 percent anticipate that their fleet size will grow by 2014.