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Server Worth $1.5 Million Wrecked by Forklift

@ 2007/08/29

An angry legal battle has broken out after an IBM server worth US$1.5 million was wrecked falling off a fork-lift truck being used to move it. T.R. Systems, a U.S. federal contractor, is suing IBM saying the Big Blue failed to package the server properly. IBM says it did. The accident happened in October, 2006. The server destined for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, was being transferred from a delivery truck to T.R. Systems' warehouse in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. It was packaged in a crate on a pallet and held on a fork-lift truck's prongs.

Comment from Kougar @ 2007/08/31

According to what they said the forklift rocked when it hit the step, the weight shifted unevenly on the prongs causing them to to flex under the weight and snap the pallet. In which case it is still T.R.'s fault since pallets aren't built to flex in the first place... That is what the report seems to state to me.

Got to see some of those IBM servers up close inside and out, way cool stuff.

But there is nothing that would save one of those beasts from being carelessly dropped from over a meter in height.

Comment from wutske @ 2007/08/30

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazyman

I don't think there is any protection from 1 to 2 meters drop from pallet load.

I ran a place >200,000 sq.ft. with 30 forklifts and 15 walkies. Training is most important both for safety of operator and products; timely recertifiication of forklift operators. Insurance will cover that.

I've seen a docu on NGC about packagings (not that I know everything about packagings because of seeing it) and there are big differences in quality.

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/30

I don't think there is any protection from 1 to 2 meters drop from pallet load.

Comment from wutske @ 2007/08/30

A pallet shouldn't break that easy, packaging should protect the valueables inside, even when dropped from a 1-2 meters ... on the other hand, the forklift shouldn't have rocked.
imho both of them are guilty.

Comment from slugbug @ 2007/08/30

I've seen some crazy forklift drivers cause a lot of damage at some of the places I've worked. Here are just a few:

-One guy hit a brick dividing wall between two warehouses causing a 4 foot diameter hole. He tried to hide the damage by placing a pallet of stock in front of it. Another Forklift driver found it the following day. Everyone knew who did it, but he denied ever doing it.

- Driving too fast with forks raised and putting brakes on too late = forks punched through loading dock door.

- Backing out of trailer with pallet too high = roll up trailer door ripped off of trailer. The truck driver wasn't too happy about that.

- One genius decided it would be fun to drive the forklift outside behind the warehouse. He got stuck in the mud and a tow truck had to be called. The foreman wasn't impressed.

IBM may have been to blame for packing it badly, but somehow I doubt it.

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