Buying the right type of electric forklift for your warehouse is extremely important, in order to maintain the maximum efficiency level. Here are some of the things you should consider before you commit to purchasing your material handling equipment:

1. Defining an adequate preventative maintenance strategy. It is extremely important that you understand how to perform your own in-house PM work. Proper servicing of your electric forklift truck is essential, in order to make sure that your equipment performs on a peak basis. If you do not have the knowledge to perform in-house maintenance, you can also subcontract these functions out to your local forklift dealer. If you’re operating a very large fleet of forklift trucks, it may be more effective for you to send your own staff to a factory sponsored forklift maintenance course.

2. Financing your forklift truck acquisition. Many popular brands offer factory backed financing plans. This is a great option if you also plan on purchasing an extended maintenance agreement. Usually they can roll in the monthly payments for your maintenance into your forklift acquisition costs. Some of the more popular brands of forklift truck makers include: Clark, Yale, crown, Toyota material handling USA, and Hyster. These companies also make diesel forklift trucks as well.  You can also purchase used or refurbished pallet jacks and forklift trucks at a substantial discount compared to the cost of acquiring the machines new.

3. Purchasing the correct fork lift truck accessories. If you plan on using your forklift in an outdoor environment, be sure to only look at models which have Pneumatic wheels. Polyurethane wheels worked very well for indoor environments, however they do not function very well in outdoor asphalt pavement. Polyurethane wheels usually come on electric forklift trucks, because of the low rolling resistance. If you plan on moving a lot of boxes which are not sitting on pallets, you should also consider purchasing a forklift clamp attachment. These work by clamping the boxes on the side so that you do not accidentally damage boxes by attempting to lift them directly using the forklift.