Forklift Repair

Has the Time Come For a Reconditioned Forklift Fleet?

By Frank Sterner

The single Manufacturer Fallacy

Most operations that run a large fleet of forklifts select a primary new truck manufacturer (for example, Toyota or Hyster for pneumatic/cushion trucks, Crown or Raymond for electrics). The big issue is maintenance.

Full service leases are supposed to cover maintenance costs up front. You can never be absolutely certain what maintenance costs will be.

Not all forklift manufacturers are good at everything that a forklift does in your operation. Electrics are quiet, inexpensive and nonpolluting, but of limited range. In extreme cases, turret trucks may be required.

To get the most efficient vehicle for every job, you would have to determine the features and characteristics required for that job, and then buy the necessary number of trucks from the manufacturer who makes the best forklift with those features and characteristics - and then repeat the process for every job in your operation.

New vs. Refurbished

With the ever-increasing costs of capital equipment, refurbishing used lift trucks has finally become big business. Purchasing used forklifts can be risky, but buying quality refurbished ones doesn't have to be.

For years, third parties have been refurbishing trucks for small users who could not afford new units. They had to do it by themselves to insure quality, and the number of quality-refurbished trucks on the market was extremely limited. The market for renewed trucks has grown to the point where there are now factory-reconditioned forklifts available at perhaps one third the cost of new trucks.

Renewed vehicles have had some run time, a kind of shakedown cruise after which the weak components are replaced. You purchase a refurbished unit at one-third the cost of a new one.

Name Brands

There is one last accepted truth I would like to address related to the issue of maintaining a fleet of forklift trucks - brand name versus off-brand parts. It seems obvious that an operation running a particular brand of forklifts will be safest stocking spare parts from that manufacturer, even if they do cost a little more.

Factories in China that have produced parts for other name brand trucks for years are now starting to sell direct in the United States at significantly reduced prices over name brands.

There is no forklift manufacturer using overpriced spare parts as a profit center in order to lower prices on new trucks and in order to lock in brand loyalty.

With these lower prices for spare parts, there is less reason to fear the possibility of higher maintenance costs with a multi-manufacturer and/or refurbished fleet of forklift trucks