What Your Repeat Forklift Repairs Are Telling You
When the same part keeps failing, the same truck keeps going down, or the same type of damage shows up across multiple units, the repair is probably telling you something bigger.
Parts usage data can help reveal whether the issue is tied to operator behavior, application fit, maintenance intervals, battery/charging practices, or a fleet need that has changed over time.
“If you start seeing where you’re replacing your tires frequently, for example, we would want to determine what’s the root cause,” says Lindsey Coffman, district service manager for Burwell Material Handling.
That is the key shift: Instead of just replacing the part, look for the pattern behind it.
Start with the pattern, not the part
Parts and repair history become more valuable when you look at them by pattern.
Is it the same:
- Part?
- Truck?
- Department
- Shift?
- Application?
- Location in the facility?
- Operator group?
Those questions matter because the same repair can point to different root causes depending on where and how it keeps happening.
Replacing several mirrors could point to an impact issue or replacing tires much more often than expected may point to the wrong tire, harsh floor conditions, debris, or operator behavior.
Tires can point to surface, application, or operating behavior
Coffman says abnormal tire wear often shows the relationship between the truck and the environment.
“Tires are a big one,” she says.
If tires are wearing too quickly or repeatedly chunking, the next question is why.
“Are you causing it or is it that your operators are constantly running over things that they don’t need to be running over?” Coffman says. “Are they damaging them? Are there chunks in them? Or is it the wrong tire for your application?”
Application fit matters. A truck may be used mostly inside, but if it also goes outside onto asphalt, gravel, or uneven ground, tire selection may need to change.
Coffman recommends pneumatic tires for forklifts that will be operated on gravel or other uneven surfaces, even if only occasionally.
Frequent tire replacement should open a bigger conversation about surfaces, travel paths, debris, loading conditions, and how the truck is actually being used.
Forks, brakes, hoses, and impact damage can reveal operator habits
Some parts patterns point less to the equipment itself and more to how the equipment is being operated.
Fork damage is one example.
“If you start seeing them get bent or the tips of them are worn out really easily, then that could be a couple of things,” Coffman says. “Either you’re overloading them or maybe your operator doesn’t understand the capacity. “It could just be operator training that needs to happen.”
Brakes can tell a similar story.
“It could be high–speed stopping,” Coffman says. “It could be that they’re riding the brake pedal or the inching pedal.”
Other damage points can also reveal impact patterns: stretched or punctured hoses, damaged mirrors, broken lights, bent load backrests, or overhead guard damage.
“If you’re replacing a bunch of mirrors or things like that, you’re having an impact at that point,” she says.
The same is true when structural parts are repeatedly damaged.
“If your overhead guard is damaged in any way, you’ve most likely hit something,” Coffman says. “If you’re replacing your load backrest on a consistent basis, then you probably have an operator error.”
In those cases, the next step may be operator retraining or fleet technology that helps identify where and when the issue is happening.
Battery and charger issues may mean the operation has changed
Repeat repairs are not always caused by abuse or neglect. Sometimes the equipment was originally specified for one use case, but the operation changed.
Electric forklifts are a good example.
“There’s a lot that can factor into the electric forklift component when it comes to the batteries and chargers,” Coffman says.
Battery performance may be affected by charging setup, watering practices, charger compatibility, static straps, charging frequency, and how many shifts the truck is now supporting.
“You may spec it for only running one shift a day, right?” Coffman says. “But then you grow and now you’re running two or three shifts a day. That changes your charging frequency.”
When the application changes, the charging plan needs to change with it.
“You have to be prepared at that point to build out how you’re charging your forklifts to match your new application,” she says.
Another common issue is inherited equipment or chargers that no longer match the current fleet.
“Maybe you’ve inherited something from someone from another facility and it doesn’t match what they’re currently running,” Coffman says.
If battery or charger issues keep showing up, review how the truck is being used now.
PM gaps show up as reactive repairs
Planned maintenance schedules should be based on usage. When usage changes, the PM interval may need to change too.
If a forklift is now running more hours than expected, a PM cadence that once made sense may no longer be enough. The result is often more repairs between planned visits.
“You’ll start seeing more reactive repairs than if you were on the correct schedule or balancing it the way it should be,” Coffman says.
Technician feedback is an important part of catching that.
“Our technicians are very good about letting customers know we might need to increase this interval more often,” she says.
That can work in both directions. Sometimes a truck may need more frequent attention. Other times, the equipment may not be accumulating enough hours to justify the current interval. The point is to review actual usage and adjust accordingly.
Review the data before the pattern becomes expensive
For larger fleets or critical operations, quarterly business reviews can help catch changes before they become repeat repair problems.
That review can look at fleet health, usage, repair trends, PM intervals, and upcoming operational changes.
“Quarterly business reviews should cover where we started, where the health of the fleet is now,and whether anything has changed on the customer’s end,” Coffman says.
The future matters too. Coffman says a quarterly review should also look ahead.
“Are you operating more? Are you operating less?” she says. “Do you have any anticipated changes in the next three to six months?”
Those answers can point to the right next step:
- Adjust PM intervals
- Stock certain parts
- Change tire type
- Review operator training
- Add telematics
- Bring in rental coverage
- Consider whether the fleet configuration still fits the work
Next step
If the same issues keep showing up, contact your Burwell Material Handling team of experts to review whether the pattern points to operator behavior, application fit, PM cadence, or a fleet strategy change.