BY TOBY GOOLEY, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
FORKLIFTS
Material Handling
IN SOME WAYS, FIGURING OUT WHAT YOU NEED
in a forklift is a lot like deciding what kind of car to buy.
Some people need basic transportation just to get from
one place to another; some drive long stretches and
need dependable, comfortable cars that can stand up to
heavy use; and some use their cars as offices on wheels
and want luxury vehicles with productivity-enhancing
technologies like hands-free communication. For that
reason, automakers offer a wide range of makes and
models that vary in cost, features, and quality.
Similarly, forklift fleet managers have different wants
and needs. That’s why lift truck makers offer everything from “no-frills” trucks that will simply get your
pallets from here to there, to self-driving forklifts that
can tell you in near real time where they are and what’s
going on under the hood, along with midrange models
that fall somewhere in between. How wide a range of
equipment an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) offers varies from one provider to another. Some
only serve the basic to midrange market, while some
concentrate on midrange and premium brands. A few
that manufacture premium equipment also offer basic
value-priced brands. Some examples of the latter include
Kion Group (Baoli), Hyster-Yale Group (Utilev), and
Crown Equipment Corp. (Hamech).
Many operations don’t require all the bells and whis-
tles that are available in some of today’s high-tech
forklifts. For them, a basic “value” lift truck may fill the
the ability to automatically stop at a specific rack height,
says Jerry Weidmann, president of Wolter Group LLC, a
Brookfield, Wis.-based company that includes five mate-
rial handling and power systems businesses across the
Midwest. Wolter Group represents 15 forklift manufac-
turers, including the basic and midrange brands Baoli,
Cat Lift Trucks, Doosan, Komatsu, and Mitsubishi, as
well as premium brands like Jungheinrich and Linde.
How do you know when a basic no-frills forklift would
be the best choice? Here are some recommendations on
when to keep things simple—and why.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER
It’s important to understand that “value” or “basic”
does not necessarily equate to “cheap” or “low performance.” Certainly, some end users buy “disposable” lift
trucks—very low-priced vehicles that last for just two or
three years—and consider buying and replacing them to
be a cost of doing business. But manufacturers typically
use the term to mean something quite different. For
instance, Lexington, Ky.-based Clark Material Handling
Co., which celebrated its 100th year in 2017, defines its
“value forklifts” as vehicles that offer limited options and
faster delivery than more customized equipment, says
Jeff Arnold, product support manager. Limiting options
and sticking with standard, commonly used chassis,
parts, and designs lets manufacturers reduce overhead
and production costs, and therefore keep the selling price
Keep it simple
Forklifts have gone high-tech, but not everyone needs
all the bells and whistles. Here’s how to determine
when a more basic truck might be the right way to go.
