Within any manufacturing or distribution environment, servicing your forklift truck plays a major role in the longevity of your equipment, business performance, and workplace safety. Regular maintenance can prevent extensive damage, unplanned downtime, and expensive costs.
In this blog, we want to explain in more detail why it is important to ensure your materials handling equipment is regularly serviced and maintained.
Decrease forklift truck downtime
Forklift downtime will often result in delays to the production process or hold ups in the supply chain that negatively impact a company’s performance and reputation. Quite simply, forklift trucks that aren't in use are a drain on efficiency and profitability, so if material handling equipment (MHE) is a core aspect of your business, you need to do all that you can to avoid breakdowns.
The best way to reduce the risk of truck downtime is to ensure that a strict lift truck service and maintenance regime is in place.
Introducing a regular schedule of inspection and maintenance across your forklift fleet will not only keep your forklifts performing at their best for the longest possible period, but will also give you the confidence that any truck-related technical problems will almost certainly be identified well in advance, so disruption to key business processes will be avoided.
Accident prevention & operator safety
Ensuring your forklifts are serviced and maintained regularly is essential for the safety of your workforce, the effectiveness of your forklift fleet and ensuring you are complying with health and safety regulations. Unfortunately, a number of accidents involving forklifts occur every year, it is very likely that these could have been prevented had the trucks been serviced and maintained regularly.
Regular forklift servicing and maintenance will find and fix any faults before accidents can occur, ensuring the safety of operators and workers. Knowing the trucks are regularly serviced will also give all operators peace of mind while working on the machines.
In addition, checks should be carried out by the operator before they begin their shift at the start of each day. The operator should assess the forklift in accordance with the vehicle handbook and then document the results. They should report any defects to a supervisor immediately. This way any faults that might result in potential accidents or injuries can be identified and remedied before a mishap occurs.
Increase the longevity of your fleet
Ensuring your forklift trucks are regularly serviced and maintained will increase the life span of your trucks. Any potential problems can be fixed before they cause serious damage meaning your forklift is likely to stay in great condition for a longer period of time.
Reduce unexpected costs
Encountering major mechanical faults on your forklift trucks can be extremely costly, not only to get the trucks fixed but also costly to the profitability of your business. Most businesses fully rely on their materials handling equipment to run their operation and losing trucks for a period of time can be extremely expensive.
If you have a regular service booked in, you will have greater visibility over the costs of repairs that can keep your trucks working. You will also be able to budget better through knowing the cost of your service plan in advance.
How can Toyota Material Handling support me?
Toyota offers a range of after-sales care and support packages, whatever the make of your truck, to suit the business needs of companies of all sizes, operating in all industry sectors.
We guarantee:
• Transparent service with no hidden costs
• Fully accredited Service Technicians
• Fast response time
• Full service history
• Genuine Toyota parts
With the support of Toyota’s dedicated after-sales development team to guide you through the various options available, you can choose your plan with complete confidence, with the knowledge that we will keep your trucks safe and in good working order to ensure you get the most out of your material handling equipment at all times.
