3 Tips For Businesses To Prolong The Lifespan Of Their Forklifts

Businesses that run their own warehousing and shipping operations must focus on maintaining their equipment properly if they want to avoid future expenses. If you don’t pay close attention to the machinery that you use and you let it fall into disrepair, you will end up spending a lot of money every month fixing or replacing things. You also lose money and damage the customer experience because downtime means late deliveries, and that’s an easy way to lose customers. 

If you want to keep business costs down, it’s vital that you maintain key pieces of equipment like forklifts. Your forklifts are the workhorses of your operation and they do all of the heavy lifting, literally. This means that they are prone to a lot of general wear and tear and maintenance issues are very common. The good news is, there are some simple steps that businesses can take to prolong the lifespan of their forklifts and save a lot of money. 

Install High-Quality Hydraulic Cylinders 

The cylinders in your forklift drive the forks, so they are the most important part of the whole machine and they are prone to a lot of wear and tear. When it comes time to replace the hydraulic cylinders in your forklift, make sure that you opt for a high-quality option instead of the cheapest ones you can find. Although the cheap option might save you money now, they won’t stand up to regular work as well and you will end up replacing them on a regular basis. In the long term, you will save money if you buy the best hydraulic cylinders that are built to last. 

Maintain The Battery 

Battery issues are another very common problem that you are likely to encounter with your forklifts. If you drain the battery fully and then charge it when needed, you won’t get as many cycles out of it. You need to charge the battery regularly and try to avoid running it down completely if possible. The best way to maintain your forklift batteries is to have a regular charging schedule and stick to it. 

Improve Staff Training

Often, forklifts are damaged by poor use rather than general wear and tear. General damage is also made worse if the forklift is not operated in the right way, which is why staff training is crucial. When hiring new employees, make sure that you double-check that they have all of the correct forklift training. However, it’s equally important that you provide refresher training sessions on a regular basis. People easily slip into bad habits over time and start cutting corners, and that leads to more wear and tear and increases the risk of accidents. Regular training will ensure that people are always following good driving practices. You should also run full training sessions whenever you replace old forklifts with a new machine. Even though they are very standardized, there are slight differences and your employees must know how to work all of the features correctly. 

Forklifts are expensive pieces of machinery and they are the backbone of your warehousing and shipping operation, so make sure you follow these steps to keep them well maintained.