Third-party logistics means customer variety: pallet profiles change with every contract, and the fleet must absorb them all without a battery room or a swap crew.
Scenario challenges
Every new client brings new pallet geometry, weights and racking; the fleet is a portfolio, not a fleet.
Service levels are contractual; equipment availability is a line item clients audit.
Trucks that sit idle between contracts are cost; equipment that flexes across contracts is revenue.
Selection logic
| Decision factor | What to check on site | How this solution is specified |
|---|---|---|
| Unknowable future pallets | Contracts change; capacity headroom is strategy. | EP line coverage 1,800–3,000 kg @ 500 mm — the capacity worksheet sizes today, the line covers tomorrow. |
| Availability as SLA | Downtime breaches client SLAs directly. | Lithium opportunity charging and the maintenance schedule keep availability auditable. |
| Mixed zone routing | The same truck serves doors, staging and aisles across clients. | Zone matching per the warehousing solution; ST15 / ST20 where geometry demands it. |
| Cost per contract | Utilization is the margin. | Standardized 80 V platform and charging across the counterbalance line keeps the cost base legible. |
Recommended models
The flexible floor of the line — 1.8 t, 0–80% charge in 1.5 h.
\nContract ceiling at 3,000 kg @ 500 mm with opportunity charging.
\nSend your contract mix and utilization targets — engineering responds within 12 hours on average.
Retail DCs, high-rack warehousing, beverage and cold chain — the contract-warehouse environments.
The warehousing solution and the lithium battery life guide cover the utilization and availability questions 3PLs ask first.