There comes a point when you have to admit you have a problem.
Some people collect watches. Some buy cars. Some become inexplicably excited about rare rocking horses.
Me?
I look at forklifts.
I can be driving past an industrial estate, supposedly concentrating on the road, when something catches my eye through an open warehouse door.
“Was that one of our EFL253s?”
Nobody else in the car cares.
I do.
Because once you’ve spent enough time around forklifts, you realise they’re far more interesting than most people give them credit for.
To the general public, a forklift is simply a yellow—or orange, red, green, blue, depending on which manufacturer has claimed that particular corner of the colour chart—machine that moves pallets around.
To those of us in the industry, they’re something entirely different.
They’re engineering.
They’re productivity.
They’re occasionally bloody frustrating.
And, when one stops working at 4:45 on a Friday afternoon with a fully loaded artic sitting outside the warehouse, they’re suddenly the most important machine in the entire company.
The Unappreciated Workhorse
Think about almost anything you’ve bought recently.
Your television. Your sofa. Your beer. Your building materials. The food in your supermarket.
At some point in its journey, there’s a very good chance a forklift has moved it.
Yet forklifts receive almost none of the affection given to cars, motorcycles, tractors or construction equipment.
Nobody has a poster of an EP 20 on their bedroom wall – apart from me…
At least, nobody I know.
And perhaps that’s something we need to change.
Because there’s an enormous amount to talk about.
Electric versus diesel.
Lithium-ion versus lead-acid.
Chinese manufacturers versus the established European and Japanese brands.
Why some forklifts seem capable of surviving twenty years of industrial abuse while others develop an electrical fault because somebody looked at them incorrectly and spilt their pot noodle.
And, of course, the eternal mystery:
What exactly did the operator hit?
Because according to the operator…
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
That bent side panel apparently happened entirely by itself.
Welcome to the world of forklifts.
Just to explain, just a little context, I have been so excited by these machines and the people that care for them, my friends and I bought the company. Wecome to Armill! The forklift world’s answer to Hogwarts and your favourite motorcycle shop in one sitting. Remember! Above all! Be safe on these tiny machines of logistic delivery!
See you soon.
