Step 1: work out what the forklift has to do
- What loads? The heaviest one, its size, and how far from the fork face its weight sits. Capacity is rated at a standard load centre, usually 500 or 600 mm; a long or bulky load reduces what the truck can safely lift.
- How high? The top beam of the racking sets the lift height; the lowest doorway, container or mezzanine sets the maximum lowered mast height.
- Where? Indoors on a clean floor, outdoors on a yard, both, cold store, food, dust, gradients. This drives power type, tyres and specification.
- How tight? Aisle widths and turning space. Around three and a half metres suits a counterbalance; under three points to a reach truck; under two to VNA.
Step 2: choose the type of truck
For general loading and yard work, a counterbalance. For narrow-aisle racking, a reach truck. For moving pallets at floor level, a powered pallet truck or stacker. For long loads, a sideloader or multi-directional truck. For rough ground and height at reach, a telehandler. For lifting people rather than loads, a scissor lift or boom. Our guide to lift truck types explains each.
Step 3: pick the power
Electric for indoor, clean and quiet work with the lowest running cost; diesel for heavy outdoor duty and long shifts; LPG where one truck works inside and out and cannot stop to charge. Modern lithium electric trucks cover more of the outdoor work than they used to. Our comparison of electric, diesel and LPG forklifts goes into the costs.
Step 4: get the capacity and specification right
Specify from the real load, then add a margin. Attachments such as sideshifts, clamps and rotators add weight and move the load centre forward, and every one of them reduces the rated capacity; the truck's data plate must show the derated figure with the attachment fitted. Tyres matter too: cushion for smooth floors, pneumatic or solid pneumatic for yards. Cabs, heaters, lighting, cameras and speed limiters are worth specifying at the outset rather than retrofitting.
Step 5: new or used?
New gives the latest efficiency, a warranty and a clean history, and suits a truck in daily use for years. Used gives ownership at a lower price and faster delivery, and suits lighter or intermittent work, provided it comes from a dealer who has serviced and inspected it and will support it afterwards. Hire is the third option if the need is uncertain. Our hire, new or used guide sets out the trade-offs.
Step 6: budget for the whole life, not the price
The purchase price is one line. Add energy or fuel, servicing and parts, tyres, batteries on an electric truck, LOLER examinations, insurance, operator training, and what the truck will be worth when you sell it. Compared over five years, a dearer truck with lower running costs is often the cheaper one. Finance and contract hire spread the cost if the capital is better used elsewhere.
Step 7: compare suppliers on more than price
- Do they carry the type and make you need, and will they say so if they do not?
- Will they visit the site and see the job, or quote from a phone call?
- What is the warranty, and who honours it locally?
- Do they service what they sell, with their own engineers and parts, and how quickly can they get to you?
- Can they train your operators, and cover you with a hire truck if yours is off the road?
A supplier who sells, services, hires and trains from one base can answer all of that in one conversation.
Step 8: inspect and test before you commit
On a used truck especially, check the hours against the wear, the service history, the mast and chains, the forks for wear and cracks, the tyres, the hydraulics for leaks, the battery on an electric truck, and that the LOLER examination is current. Drive it, lift a load to full height, and listen. On a new truck, confirm the specification on the order matches the data plate on delivery.
Step 9: plan for delivery, training and servicing
Before the truck arrives: who will operate it, and do they hold the right certificate for this type? Where will it charge or refuel? Who services it, at what interval, and when is the first LOLER examination due? A truck with those answers in place earns its keep from the first week. One without them sits in the corner while the paperwork catches up.