Shock sensors fitted as standard on Toyota reach trucks

The company says it is the first materials handling equipment manufacturer to fit shock sensors as standard. The addition will allow any impact to be monitored, recorded and linked to drivers – saving money and boosting site safety, says Toyota. Sam Coles, Toyota's commercial director, said: "In our experience we often find that the 80/20 rule applies – 20% of the operators account for 80% of all the damages. The problem is to identify those operators and take corrective action, whether it is improved training or reassessing aisle layout." The sensor's threshold for impact can be preset and only those impacts that exceed this will be registered. When a shock exceeds the value, the truck will be limited to creep speed (2.5 km/h) and a signal will sound every five seconds until a reset of the truck has been performed, either by PIN code entry or use of a reset key/card. Data for the 10 most recent impacts is stored and can be viewed via the truck's onboard display. It shows date and time of impact, magnitude of impact and the associated PIN codes of impacts. The shock sensor functionality can be expanded with Toyota's I_Site fleet management technology, allowing shocks to be monitored remotely, for example, as well as giving greater visibility and control of the fleet, including truck use and operating hours.