LIft Truck - Choosing the brand that fits for your business

There are so many brand choices for a buyer to consider when making a forklift purchase. How do you decide which is right for you? Price, warranty, reputation, good salespeople, color of the forklift, or technical specifications are just a few of the factors to consider. Which is most improtant to you? We would like your input. In the meantime, we will discuss the pros and cons of each point.

Price, probably the most common factor people consider when making this choice, is a very signigicant one. Return on investment (ROI) is commonly discussed and most people want a large and quick return. But the price is just a small factor in this equation. One forklift companie likes to promote the fact that the purchase price is only 20% of the cost of ownership and 80% is the cost of upkeep. So many buyers are blinded by the purchase price and often will take this to the extreme and buy a very cheap used forklift . Soon they find out that the maintenance cost far ourweight what they paid for the lift.

Warranty, considered but only lightly by most buyers, may say a lot about the lift truck. Does a long warranty mean the product is well made? Does a short warranty mean the manufacturer is concerned about the durability of the product. What do you think? The bottom line is that if you get a product with a longer warranty your operating costs will be reduced for the length of the additional warranty. Again, this needs to be considered in the ROI equation. Something else that should be looked at is the cost of paying for and extended warranty. These are tricky but should be considered if they fit your need.

Reputation

Reputation, is a very imperfect means for judging a lift truck. It is imperfect in that you are not able to get enogh inputs to get and unbiased point of view. That is what the marketing people are hoping you will do, so the one that spends the most on marketing is destined to win this part of the process. Make sure to only use this as a portion of your consideration.

Best salesperson, this could be good except for the fact that the salesperosn only represents a specific brand or two. There job is to convince you that there product is best. So again you find yourself getting imperfect information because it is only a portion of what is available.

More than anything with a lift truck, you must consider the specifications your business needs from your equipment. Not all equipment is created equal. There are many suttle differences in equipment based on the environment they are designed for. You must consider size, shape, power, speed and emissions just to name a few. Make sure you consider what your business needs.

We would appreciate you input on this subject. So please comment on this post. Additionally, we are going to provide some comparisons information for you to consider in our next few post. We hope this willhelp you to make the best purchase decision for you and your business. So subcribe to this blog for future posts on this subject. Thanks!