SHELBURN, Vt. (WCAX) – Rice Lumber has made history with Vermont’s first outdoor electric forklift.
Birdsong filled the air at Shelburne Construction Company. The faint rumble of an electric forklift in the distance. “It’s quiet here in the morning when they’re open,” explained Taylor Carroll of Rice Lumber. “There’s not a lot of smoke or loud noise.”
This spring, Rice Lumber purchased two Toyota 80-volt electric pneumatic forklifts. These are Vermont’s first outdoor electric forklifts. James Jimmo of Northern Toyota Lift connected them. “They stepped up to the plate,” Jimmo said. “I think it’s going to be really good.”
It took some persuasion to get there. Rice Lumber owner Wes Carroll was initially reluctant to eliminate the company’s stubborn fleet of diesel forklifts. “He took the pamphlet and threw it in the trash,” Jimmo laughed. “Then we started talking about numbers.”
The price is $80,000 per lift, about $10,000 more than a diesel lift. “It’s nerve-wracking at first, obviously it’s expensive and we have all the chargers and stuff, but it’s new to us,” Carol shrugged her shoulders.
Jimmo crunched the numbers and found that each lift would save him $8,000 a year in gas and service costs. These savings would make up the price difference within two years. The Rice Lumber was sold and he received a $6,000 rebate from Green Mountain Power. “I’m so excited. I never thought I’d be in a position to reduce Vermont’s carbon footprint like this,” Jimmo smiled. “Being a pioneer.”
When charged and connected in the field, forklifts run for approximately 8 to 10 hours and consume 20 gallons of diesel each week. Plus, they can hold thousands of pounds more than older diesel lifts and have more safety features. Carroll said even his oldest employees prefer his EV lift to his four remaining diesel lifts. “They seem to be doing pretty well,” Carroll said.
Jimmo said he hopes Rice Lumber’s success story will encourage other construction companies to make the switch. “I think once other people see how good it is, they’ll jump on it,” Jimmo said.
Rice Lumber is waiting to see how the forklifts perform over the winter before replacing the entire diesel fleet.
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