Most business owners are well aware of the importance of having the right tools at their disposal.
Working with subpar equipment and tools can negatively affect a company’s bottom line. If you operate a business in a warehouse setting, functional forklifts are probably something you need to stay productive.
At last count, there were over 850,000 forklifts in operation in the United States. A high-quality forklift can be expensive, which is why you need to work on protecting your investment. Properly caring for your forklift will not only make it more efficient, it will also help it last longer. If you want to extend the life of your forklift, consider the great tips in this article.
Employee Training is Imperative
Prolonging the life of your forklift is something you should view as a team effort. Most business owners don’t operate the forklifts they own. They leave this difficult job to trained professionals that they hire.
Most of the damage a forklift experiences will come as a result of user error. Common accidents involving tip-overs, collisions and improper loading/unloading can be prevented with the right training.
Making your forklift operators aware of these common accidents and the mistakes that lead to them occurring is crucial. With this knowledge, your forklift operators can stay safe while behind the wheel. If your operators are aware of common hazards, they will also be less likely to have accidents that cause damage to your forklifts.
Keep Your Facility Free of Potential Hazards
Some business owners fail to realize just how important a clean and organized workplace is to the overall health of their forklifts. If your warehouse is filled with potential hazards, it is only a matter of time before your forklift is damaged. Leaving crates of raw materials, boxes and other debris in the pathways where your forklifts travel is a horrible idea.
If one of your operators hits one of these hazards, your forklift will get damaged. Instead of having to prematurely replace a forklift due to this type of damage, you need to take action. By instituting policies regarding how to clean and remove hazards from the workplace, you can steer clear of these types of accidents.
Take Preventative Maintenance Seriously
The only way to keep your forklifts reliable and functional is by providing them with routine maintenance.
Making sure the oil in your forklifts is changed once every three months is a great way to extend the life of their motors. You also need to make sure that the batteries and battery terminals on your forklifts are checked and cleaned routinely.
Producing a pre-operation checklist for forklift operators to use is a great way to discover repair issues early on. By discovering these issues early on, you can minimize the amount of damage they cause to your forklifts.
If you are serious about extending the life of your forklift, then you need to implement the tips in this article.