had one a few years ago who lifted a pallet using the lever only,i asked how long he had his licence and he replied a week,i said as well as the lever try a little rev on the accelerator,result a heck of a lot quicker and his reply was oh yeah see what you mean
BIG AW:
Ya its that simple heard it all before !
I’ve driven one, I know it’s a piece of ■■■■. If you struggle then I’m afraid to say you can’t be very bright.
truckman020:
had one a few years ago who lifted a pallet using the lever only,i asked how long he had his licence and he replied a week,i said as well as the lever try a little rev on the accelerator,result a heck of a lot quicker and his reply was oh yeah see what you mean
I had a Chinese women the other week who kept tilting the tines back as she drove it then struggled to get them flat again. I said to her don’t bother tilting back as it was a stable load she was moving and just bang it straight on. Dopey mare wouldn’t do it as that’s not how she was trained. She also made a point of applying the hand brake before lifting the load. I know that’s the correct way by the book, but ffs. Took her an eternity to load me.
Trying to tell someone on the forks how to do their job is never going to work to your benefit. They’ve probably heard it all before from know-it-all lorry drivers anyway.
“Is that ok boss” - He’s just put a pallet of bricks in the middle of the top deck.
“There’s plenty of room for me to get this one on top of that one boss…” - The one on the bottom is a 4xboxes of plastic cups for vending machines. The one about to be put on top of it is marked “Unipart Genuine Car Parts”
“That’ll go. you’re only upto 43t, and this last one is fairly light, and a small one…” - Smashes last pallet on. It makes a noise within the boxes marked “fragile” of that sound you get when you dropped your thermos flask on the deck at school…
“Hmm not quite there… I’ll give it a little nudge boss…” - Lifts up forks level to the top of the tank fork holes and pushes gently… The forks slip, and pierces the tank of 1790…
Oops. OH CRAP! 
truckman020:
had one a few years ago who lifted a pallet using the lever only,i asked how long he had his licence and he replied a week,i said as well as the lever try a little rev on the accelerator,result a heck of a lot quicker and his reply was oh yeah see what you mean
Inching pedal means not having to use neutral. You can speed up the job in loads of ways that means you will incur the wrath of the point-counters on a refresher test…
But a 2-pedal only has a brake…
Tris:
BIG AW:
Ya its that simple heard it all before !I’ve driven one, I know it’s a piece of ■■■■. If you struggle then I’m afraid to say you can’t be very bright.
Listen pal driving a forklift and driving one well is a million miles apart a bit like a lot of so called HGV drivers that have licences but carnt reverse for love nor money everybody thinks its easy and to a degree it is but doing it well ■■ that’s why there is a number of bad accidents every year due to people jumping on trucks and tipping them over loading and unloading veh is only a fraction of what driving a forklift is o and by the way don’t insinuate that iam not very bright ok
BIG AW:
Listen pal driving a forklift and driving one well is a million miles apart a bit like a lot of so called HGV drivers that have licences but carnt reverse for love nor money everybody thinks its easy and to a degree it is but doing it well ■■ that’s why there is a number of bad accidents every year due to people jumping on trucks and tipping them over loading and unloading veh is only a fraction of what driving a forklift is o and by the way don’t insinuate that iam not very bright ok
What he said. AFAIK, accidents involving FLT’s are one of the most common in the workplace; and because of the fact that they’re basically a three ton lump of metal with more blind spots than Stevie Wonder and no soft edges, people are more likely to be killed than injured in said accidents.
I’d argue that being good at anything is all about “performance without incident” rather than “can blind side reverse at 40mph in the pouring rain at a poorly lit yard” and such party pieces one might think “Makes” them some kind of driving god…
Forkies have more opportunities for mishap than truckers if anything.
I’d give the most respect therefore to those forkies that have a long length of “no incidents” in their working lives, coupled with the belt & braces of also holding a HGV licence currently in use as well…
Back in the 90’s - it was deemed normal for a trucker to fork on his own stuff… In a way I miss that. No one is better suited to be responsible for one’s load than “you” and “you”… 
Funny that the only serious accident we had in our yard, was the Lorry driver driving off, while the forks were still in the pallet on the trailer, resulting in the fork lift being yanked over.
Driver said he thought we had finished. I asked him if he often drove around with the curtains open?
BIG AW:
Tris:
BIG AW:
Ya its that simple heard it all before !I’ve driven one, I know it’s a piece of ■■■■. If you struggle then I’m afraid to say you can’t be very bright.
Listen pal driving a forklift and driving one well is a million miles apart a bit like a lot of so called HGV drivers that have licences but carnt reverse for love nor money everybody thinks its easy and to a degree it is but doing it well ■■ that’s why there is a number of bad accidents every year due to people jumping on trucks and tipping them over loading and unloading veh is only a fraction of what driving a forklift is o and by the way don’t insinuate that iam not very bright ok
It’s a piece of ■■■■ to drive a forklift. Forwards.
Different ball game altogether loading 26 pallets quickly, safely and efficiently. Especially in busy yards with trucks flying about all over.
Guys at our place are good, just a little ham-fisted at times. There is a place I pick up at in Peterlee and the forkie there is rather slow but he does everything with precision, everything is done perfectly and exactly the way I want it. He’s also a great help moving pallets around on the truck!
waddy640:
One I had loading me summed his mentality up with and I quote “supposing I come flying round the corner and don’t see you”.
Do you mean like this guy?
Warning, this doesn’t end well for the truck driver 
Likewise anyone who gets a HGV license, is not taught how to use straps, rope and sheet, distribute loads etc.
That is not strictly true. Some are taught how to use straps etc when doing their LGV. Anyway as a new LGV driver there are courses you can go on to learn straps etc.
Do not blame the training companies. It is the drivers that do not bother to learn most of the time.
good god tris, for a guy who only passed his test 6 months ago it hasn’t taken you long to get to the I am better than everyone else pinnacle.
that’s the good thing about learning etc, as a new driver you should understand more than most everyone starts somewhere, some are confident others take longer. maybe you have forgot what it was like when you first passed although I cant see how.
I used to sit and watch, fascinated, as the guys where I worked loaded groupage for Ireland. There was some competition going on the most profitable loads - the traction was a straight ‘per load’ rate, so the more goods they could get on the trailer the better. It wasn’t especially fast, but it was highly skilled. They had to load everything from steel bar, machinery, pallets of all shapes and sizes and cable reels. Safe, secure and free from damage. If that final pallet wouldn’t fit, they would load pallet and boxes separately.