When things get busy, It’s easy to overlook the importance of regular forklift maintenance at your facility, and you may choose to forgo regularly scheduled maintenance. While we never recommend that approach, it’s important to note that a thorough maintenance plan doesn’t just include professional inspections and repairs. If they aren’t already, your team can start playing a vital role in keeping your forklifts operating at peak efficiency. Taking the time to follow a few proactive guidelines today can end up saving you time and money tomorrow.
Wondering how? Let’s get started.
Implement a Before and After Rule
Preparing for tomorrow starts today. That’s why your team should make it a habit to look at critical forklift components any time they’re about to fire a lift up for the day or before leaving at the end of the day. You can even implement a proactive “before and after” rule to ensure accountability across the board.
Before using any material handling equipment, your team should take a look at it to ensure it’s operating as intended. If it isn’t, they should notify a supervisor so the issue can be resolved quickly. Similarly, by inspecting equipment after use, they can ensure that it’s ready for the next person who will need to use it. If it isn’t, the issue can be promptly resolved before it impacts workflows at your facility.
Take note, however, that the point of the rule isn’t so much to point blame as it is to make sure equipment is ready to go when it’s needed, so your team can work as efficiently as possible.
Daily Forklift Maintenance Checklist
To achieve the goal of keeping material handling equipment functioning at your facility, your business can also standardize a daily forklift maintenance checklist that’s affixed to the equipment itself. At minimum, this checklist should include:
A Visual Inspection of Critical Components
Before use, forklift operators should take a look at all critical forklift components, including:
- All hoses
- Tire pressure
- Tire condition
- Fluid levels
- Fork condition
- Overhead guards
- Brake performance
- Seats and seat belts
- Noticeable damage
- Forklift battery maintenance
Only after checking off each of these areas should your team feel confident operating a forklift.
Forklift Maintenance Schedules
It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on forklift maintenance schedules on a daily basis, especially if you have a large fleet. During busy times, scheduled maintenance timelines can sneak up on you, and it’s easy to skip them to maximize productivity. However, when you have the foresight to anticipate service intervals, you can make the necessary preparations to ensure service and repairs don’t cut into your bottom line. Even if you can’t afford forklift downtime, you can work with Brennan to rent a forklift while yours is being serviced, so you don’t have to worry about drops in productivity.
Develop a Customized Forklift Maintenance Plan
If you need help understanding maintenance requirements for your forklift fleet, or you want to develop a customized plan that keeps equipment operating at peak performance, contact Brennan today. We’ll work with you to show how regular maintenance not only keeps equipment in working order, but also extends the life of your forklifts.
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