With a maximum lifting capacity over 100,000 lbs. and quiet, emissions-free operation, the Wiggins Lift Co. Yard eBull is one serious forklift – and this serious piece of heavy equipment it could be coming soon, to a port or terminal yard near you.
Founded in 1955 as a welding shop serving farm customers, Wiggins’ first machines were designed local farmers with harvesting, washing, and boxing crops. Since then, the scope of their operations have grown to include customized, high-capacity material handling equipment serving a wide range of customers that includes wet ports that have been struggling to reach ZEV goals – and that’s where the Yard eBull electric forklift comes in.
“While Marina forklifts have been our bread and butter, the Zero Emission (ZE) industrial forklifts are quickly gaining and are anticipated to make up the bulk of our production within the next two to three years,” Micah McDowell, Wiggins Lift’s director of sales told the American Journal of Transportation.
To meet the needs of those customers, the new HDEVs from Wiggins Lift Co. are designed to be highly configurable, offering lifting capacities from 36,000 to an almost unbelievable 120,000 lbs. Battery and motor specs are matched to the customers’ lifting needs, with Wiggins targeting enough onboard battery capacity to work through two or three full shifts without the need to plug in and recharge.
When the lifts do need to top up, they can do so with a standard automotive CCS port – as evidenced by photos showing them connected to “standard” DC fast charging hardware from ChargePoint.
Just like charging your car
“We offer a willingness to work closely with customers to make sure our products meet their exact needs. We are not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ manufacturer,” says McDowell, emphasizing the wide range of configuration options. “We want to make sure the customer receives a product that will perform exactly as they need it to for their operations.”
Customers that take Wiggins up on their offer to build a machine ideally suited to their needs have reaped the rewards of the company’s expertise – with some customers seeing as much as an 80% reduction in operating costs due to reduced downtime and fuel costs.
What’s more, the quiet operations and reduced emissions lead to superior operator and stevedore safety at the port, itself – and not just because they can hear someone yelling “Stop!” in the absence of diesel drone. Some of the Yard eBull’s safety features include:
- Reverse Backup Camera
- Pedestrian boundary lights
- Daylight Strobes when moving
- Optional rear facing radar with audible and visual operator warnings
- Optional motion alarms and White Noise Generators to alert pedestrians
Additionally, Wiggins’ HD electric forklifts are made in the USA, using a large stock of raw materials the company sources from largely domestic vendors, making the Yard eBull fully Build America, Buy America compliant.
Electrek’s Take
The Port of Los Angeles, along with the Port of Long Beach, are leading the charge (sorry) for heavy equipment and forklift electrification – and their success stories can and will reverberate throughout the shipping and logistics industries.
Hopefully that alone will be enough to accelerate the broader shipping industry’s electrification plans. At the very least, it will show everyone involved that going electric is the best way to save money and boost efficiency while, at the same time, improving the health and quality of life of the people who live and work around these machines.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Wiggins Lift Co., featured image via AJOT.
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