Fleet management system helps Chicago Tribune monitor impacts

The Chicago Tribune’s Freedom Center prints, inserts and distributes more than 40 different publications. It contains five floors of activity, from inbound-outbound docks for trucks and rail, raw materials and finished goods warehousing, printing, inserting and packaging, and distribution within very restricted spaces.

The narrow aisles and busy floor-level operations present challenges for forklift operators who must wind their way through the facility. Impacts can easily result in significant damage to products and assets, so the newspaper wanted to proactively monitor impacts to ensure immediate action could be taken to address an unsafe act or action when the impact occurs. They wanted to be as responsive as possible while working to reduce impacts and learn more about how its trucks and operators were being used.

The Chicago Tribune implemented an operator and fleet management system on every truck in its fleet. Operators are now documenting pre-shift inspections electronically. Each lift truck is configured with an impact threshold and fleet managers receive an immediate alert when an impact occurs.

“We absolutely have more control. That information is vital for you to make decisions about the future,” says Jon Healy, receiving team lead at The Chicago Tribune.

With a reliable monitoring system in place, fleet managers are able to quickly address impacts and coach operators on proper lift truck operation. This has resulted in a 30% reduction in impacts, with corresponding decreases in damage and injuries. The system is also providing fleet managers with utilization data for lift trucks and operators, which has proven valuable in making production and staffing decisions.