Don’t Get Forked: Why Scheduled Maintenance Is Essential During a Slowing Economy

A slowing economy brings out the penny-pincher in all of us. It's an ingrained survival instinct to cut waste and circle the wagons. However, skimping on your forklift's scheduled maintenance might be penny-wise, but it's pound-foolish. Preventative maintenance is a bulwark against many of the largest unexpected costs your facility could face—costs that can be cataclysmic during low revenue periods. Read on to learn how scheduled maintenance prevents financial disaster and helps keep you afloat during tough times.

Preventative vs. Reactive

On the surface, the adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" seems like it has a certain wisdom. However, it's a costly attitude when it comes to your forklift fleet. Waiting for equipment to break down before you fix it is called reactive maintenance, and it's almost universally more expensive than preventative maintenance. In forklift repair, breakdowns are almost always the result of minor problems that were never addressed. For example, a worn bearing is easy to fix during preventative maintenance. Yet, if you wait for it to break, you could end up replacing the whole engine.

Scheduled forklift maintenance solves that issue. Routine forklift service prevents small problems from snowballing into big problems and for a fraction of what reactive maintenance would cost. At a minimum, forklifts require service every 500 working hours. Sticking to that maintenance plan could save you from a budget-busting breakdown.

Disastrous Downtime

Unplanned downtime is expensive no matter what, but when the economy is growing, there's more incoming revenue to offset the loss. A slowing economy eliminates that buffer. When you depend on every order from your loyal customers to stay in the black, lost productivity is a killer.

The cost of your team twiddling their thumbs while you wait for an emergency fork truck repair is an enormous expense by itself. However, lost productivity also puts you behind schedule, increasing the likelihood of late shipments and upsetting the customers you depend on.

A forklift maintenance schedule is the number one thing you can do to prevent this nightmare scenario. Planned forklift maintenance minimizes the threat of unplanned downtime, keeping your warehouse humming and your customers singing your praises.

Safety First

Faulty forklifts are a major contributor to equipment-related injuries. Between 2021 and 2022, these injuries resulted in over 450,000 days away from work. While OSHA forklift maintenance requirements set the minimum standard for forklift care, safety is not a minimum standard job.

Regularly scheduled Toyota forklift service ensures your equipment meets OSHA requirements and remains safe to operate. Even one accident can be catastrophic at the best of times, but it can end your business during a slowdown. Preventative maintenance is a critical tool for protecting the health of your team and facility.

Extended Equipment Life

When revenue slows, getting the most out of your equipment isn't just a best practice; it's vital. Forklifts that don't receive scheduled maintenance wear out much faster than properly maintained fork trucks. In fact, scheduled maintenance can extend the overall lifespan of your equipment beyond the industry average. This extension can make an enormous difference during a slowing economy because your existing forklifts are a sunk cost. Extending their useful lives improves your ROI and ensures your facility isn't forced into purchasing new equipment during such an economically vulnerable time.

Maximize Equipment Trade-In Value

Extending equipment life is worthwhile, but sometimes, the best financial decision you can make is to invest in a new model. You can offset the cost of your new acquisition by trading in your older forklift. However, not all trade-ins are equal. The forklift’s maintenance history is a significant factor in determining the trade-in value.

Obviously, a forklift that's never had preventative maintenance will be worth less than a properly maintained one. However, using an in-house tech can also reduce your trade-in value. A dealer will request copies of the forklift's maintenance record. Records from in-house technicians are often sparse or incomplete because they are written with an internal-use-only mindset. However, outside technicians, like our team, write maintenance reports for third-party use. As a result, these reports are more comprehensive and thus provide a more complete picture to the dealer.

Your Forklift Maintenance Solution

Scheduled maintenance is an investment in your business's long-term health. There is an upfront cost, which can seem like a non-starter during a slowing economy. However, that expense is a fraction of what a faulty forklift can cost your business. In a way, planned maintenance is like insurance. You wouldn't wait for an accident before insuring your facility. So why wait for disaster to strike before protecting your forklift? Instead, visit our service page to choose the maintenance plan that’s best suited for your needs. Whether your forklifts are low, medium, or high use, we’ve got a service plan that’s right for you. Don’t get forked. Choose your forklift maintenance plan today.

To learn more about scheduled forklift maintenance or to request a quote, contact us online or visit one of our locations throughout Georgia and Florida.

Florida
Jacksonville
Lakeland
Ocala
Orlando
Tampa
Winter Haven

Georgia
Albany
Macon
Columbus
Valdosta

Further Reading

• Maximize Your Forklift’s Trade-In Value
• Going the Distance for Warehouse Safety
• Which Forklift Service Plan is Right for Me?