Most forklifts and lift trucks come with lots of common security features, such as seat belts on sit-down vehicles. Stand-up vehicles will almost always have dead-man petals. In addition, some manufacturers are offering more features such as speed controls that are able to reduce the overall speed based on load height and steering angle. For more information, there are numerous articles available about Loading Dock Safety and Lift Truck Safety.
Support and Service
Making certain you would maintain access to high levels of service and support is a very essential part of forklift selection. There seem to be a variety of new players in the lift truck industry each year. Even though they offer a decent lift truck design and a nice price, if they do not provide the regional or local support and service infrastructure, you must be ready for significant stress when the forklift goes down. Every model of lift truck goes down at some point and service, parts and general questions must be answered at some point.
Generally, you would want a local repair shop or dealer with a great supply of parts for the specific make and model you are purchasing. Be certain to visit the dealership or the repair shop and check their parts room in order to try to understand how many parts they stock. Make certain to inquire that if they do not have the part you require, where will it come from? With any luck, the answer will be from a local or regional distribution facility.
Moreover, try to get some ideas as to how many of those particular units are currently being utilized in your vicinity. This is really important for specialty trucks including turret trucks. If there are only a small amount of trucks in use in their service area that you must assume they may not be stocking many if any parts for them. What's more, they can have very little overall experience in servicing that specific model too.