When Is It Time to Retire Your Forklift?

Safety is extremely important when it comes to using any type of heavy equipment. Everything needs to be in working order, or severe injuries can be caused. When working with a Los Angeles forklift, there are many things that need to be considered prior to beginning work. It is really important that operators are able to identify when it is time to retire a forklift. Here are some signs that it is time to retire your forklift.

Maintenance Costs

Purchasing a forklift is an investment. It is important that you determine how much it costs to maintain the forklift versus the actual value of the lift. When the maintenance costs exceed the value, then it is time to consider buying a new forklift. This is the point when it is no longer feasible to put money into improving it.

Over time, equipment will start developing issues, which will require parts and labor. In the early stages of a forklift’s life, it will be simple to pay for maintenance costs. But with each year that passes, the cost to maintain your forklift will increase. The more that your lift is used, the better the chances are that maintenance will be needed. In the first few years, you may see a maintenance cost of roughly $2 to $4 per hour. This will increase each year you own your forklift.

Once the forklift reaches its seventh year or 10,000 hours of use, you will likely start seeing major repairs needing to be preformed. These costly repairs can include transmissions, motors, engines and electronic systems.

Inefficient Productivity

Each time repairs are needed, you are losing productivity of your workforce and forklift. When the forklift is being repaired, you are not able to use it and the older that the forklift gets, the more you will see this happen. This impacts all aspects of your business, including customer service, not allowing other workers to do their job and production times.

You can’t get paid if you are not delivering the goods to the consumer. A major decrease in productivity could lead to major financial losses for your business. For those who have a forklift that sees a lot of wear and tear, purchasing a new forklift will solve many issues that you have faced with your current one. Give us a call today at (888) 329-5438 for more information.