Most forklifts and lift trucks come with lots of common security features, like seat belts on sit-down vehicles. Stand-up vehicles would usually have dead-man petals. In addition, certain manufacturers are providing extra features like speed controls which could reduce the overall speed based on steering angle and load height. For more info, there are many available articles about Loading Dock Safety and Lift Truck Safety.
Service and Support
Making certain you will maintain access to high levels of support and service is a hugely essential part of lift truck selection. There seem to be a variety of new players in the lift truck industry each and every year. Even though they offer a nice price and a decent lift truck design, if they do not provide the local or regional support and service infrastructure, you need to be ready for significant stress when the forklift goes down. Each kind of lift truck goes down at some point and service, parts and general questions should be answered at some point.
Normally, you would want a local dealer or repair shop with a great supply of components for the specific make and model you are purchasing. Be certain to visit the dealership or the repair shop and take a look at their parts room so as to try to know how many parts they store. Make certain to inquire that if they do not have the part you need, where would 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 models are presently being used in your vicinity. This is very vital for specialty trucks like turret trucks. If there are only a small amount of trucks in use in their service area that you should assume they may not be stocking many if any parts for them. What's more, they could have very little overall experience in servicing that particular model as well.