Used forklift inspection checklist before you buy

The truck you buy is the truck in the photos, at the serial plate, on the day you are willing to pay for it. Listings fail in the same places: a price under the band, a serial you cannot read, and a mast cropped out of the frame. This checklist is the walk we expect before an introduction. The interactive version sits on the method page. The price that goes with the grade sits on the price book.

Two inspections get confused. OSHA requires an employer to examine a powered industrial truck before it is placed in service, at least daily, and after each shift when trucks run around the clock. Defects get reported and corrected. That duty is in 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7). OSHA also publishes sample daily checklists and says they are a guide, not a complete list, and that the operator's manual still governs. A purchase walk is earlier than that. It decides whether this truck should enter your building at all.

Grade first, then haggle

We grade before we introduce anyone. A is cleared: hour meter, mast, hydraulics, and power in writing, and the photos match the serial. B is work ready: honest wear, priced inside the band, no story about a fresh engine with no invoice. C is a project: named defects, priced as a project. We do not call C rent-ready. If a seller will not support a grade, the file stops. Sell a truck only if you can live with that standard on your own iron.

Identity

• Serial plate matches the truck in the photos, both sides. A plate that is painted over or cropped is not a serial.
• Hour meter is readable. Ask whether it was replaced. A fresh meter on an old truck is a fact, not a gift.
• Data plate is present and legible. Capacity, attachment, and load center have to match the truck in front of you. See capacity plates.
• Year and model on the seller's note match the plate. If they do not, you do not have one truck. You have two stories.

Mast, carriage, and forks

A forklift can run 15,000 hours and still be the right buy. It can also be 2,000 hours and a bent rail. Hours are a clue. The mast is the sentence. That is the standard on the method page, and it is the one we shop to.

• Chains, rollers, and carriage are in the photos, not cropped out. Dry, rusty, or elongated chain is a conversation before it is a discount.
• No visible bend, crack, or fresh weld on the rails. A fresh weld without a story is a story.
• Side-shift, if claimed, is in a photo mid-travel. A sticker that says side-shift is not side-shift.
• Forks are not cracked at the heel. Length is stated. Heel cracks are how forks fail, and they hide if the photo is a beauty shot from the tip.
• Carriage width is stated when the truck is 8,000 lb or larger. The book says attachment and carriage width move that band more than the year.

Hydraulics and steering

• Cylinders are not wet. A damp rod is a leak that has not been wiped for the photo.
• Hoses are not ballooned, cracked, or rubbing through at the mast pivot.
• Lift, tilt, and side-shift move without a howl or a hesitation the seller calls "normal when cold" and cannot show you warm.
• Steering is tight enough that the truck tracks. On a pneumatic truck, the steer axle and the tires outrank the paint.

Power

Power is where used-truck discounts go to die. Split the check by fuel. The fuel guide is the longer version. The short version belongs on the walk.

• LP: tank, brackets, and lines in the photos. No smell-and-hope. OSHA's rules for LP fuel are in 1910.110, and a leak is an out-of-service condition under 1910.178(p), not a negotiating point.
• Electric: battery year, voltage, and a load test, not a guess. Quote the battery and charger as their own line. The 5,000 lb electric band is $12,000 to $28,000 for a reason.
• Diesel and rough terrain: start it cold if you can. Smoke, knock, and a radiator full of stop-leak are grade C until someone writes the repair.
• If the seller says the power "needs nothing" and will not show it, mark power unknown. The screen prices unknown power below a sound truck on purpose.

Undercarriage, brakes, and the daily items

OSHA's sample checklists separate electric trucks and internal-combustion trucks, and they put the nameplate on the list: attached, and matching the model, serial, and attachments. Use that instinct on a purchase. Tires have to match the job. Cushion for smooth floors. Pneumatic for the yard. Brakes, horn, lights, and seat belt are called out, not assumed. An overhead guard that is bent or drilled full of extra holes is not a cosmetic issue. OSHA's operating rule treats the overhead guard as protection from small falling packages, not from a full capacity load, which is a reason to keep it intact rather than a reason to skip it.

If the truck is already in somebody's fleet, ask for the daily exam sheets and the last planned service. A stack of blank sheets is a fact about the seller. It is not proof the truck is bad. It is proof you do not get to assume the truck was looked at.

Photos we expect before a dealer is introduced

1. Both sides of the truck, full length, so the mast is not cropped.
2. Serial plate and data plate, readable.
3. Hour meter, with the digits in focus.
4. Chains, rollers, and carriage.
5. Fork heels and the stated fork length.
6. Power: LP tank and lines, or battery label and charger, or diesel engine bay.
7. Tires and, on a pneumatic truck, the steer axle.

Four honest photos beat forty dark ones. If you are selling, send these with the screen. If you are buying, do not travel until they are in the file. Then request the truck against the band, not against the ad.

What this checklist is not

It is not a certification we do not hold. It is not a substitute for the operator's manual, and it is not the OSHA daily exam your people will run after the truck is yours. It is the filter between a listing and an introduction. One dealer, four hours, a grade in writing. You pay the yard. You do not pay this desk to ask.