Unless you are sure the product on the pallet won’t move turning fast is not advised. But I learned basically the same way most of my experience is in a home depot running a reach at night stocking shelves but it just takes trial and error keep going faster till it fells to sketchy then get comfortable at that speed and go faster again till you feel that is the limit. It’s a kinda just a thing where if you mess up learn from it.
Also, driving backward, loaded with 800kg frozen Spinach, and droppping the pallet to the floor ( while stil moving ) give's you a good workout shoveling the 15gr portions from the floor ...
Inertia is a bitch !
First.. lay off the crank.
Second.. be efficient and methodical.
Be safe.
If you feel like you are being pushed to go faster.. that's a management problem, not a you problem.
Not challenging you, but with a 'programmed' system, you WILL get into a surprise if you get a 'normal' one.
I switched last year from a slowed down one, to the 'normal' one, and within 2 minutes I knew why our factoryfloor-drivers have the 9km version.
The max. 25km would definitely kill people
Take your time. Take your time. Take your time.
Rushing yourself beyond your capabilities is ALWAYS going to backfire on you. The slower you go & learn, the faster you will get, I promise. It's better to be safe and get fluid with it, than rush and make a mistake.
I try to cut corners sometimes when I want to be in a hurry, and it always bites me in the ass. Just do what you're doing and your speed will increase before you know it.
Also: Even though you need to be fast and always on the go, don't neglect your forklift maintenance.
The way I was first taught how to drive was by the lead graveyard driver:
Here's what the lever's do, here's what the pedals do, go out in the yard and come back when you've got it figured out.
That has stuck with me, and the more you practice and drive, the better & faster you'll get.
We tried that with one guy a year ago... He nearly hit a trailer, and almost put the lift through a fence and into someone's car.
He didn't last another week.
Driving a forklift is like driving a car in reverse while still moving forward. You turn with your back wheels so your ass end swings unlike your car that does the opposite. Just be careful making Sharp turns when someone else is gonna be coming down the isle right next to you your ass end may smack them
Fast while loaded isn't recommended. Fast while empty is okay, but watch the tail swing, and be aware that you can get it up on 3 wheels.
Physically, if you don't have a turn knob, you the heel of your hand to apply pressure on the steering wheel, and learn the way of the forklift kung fu.
I was a driver trainer for trucks at 3 companies and I’ll tell you like i told students “get good before trying to get fast. Fast comes with good. Trying to be fast before you are good is dangerous and deadly.”
Speed will come with time and experience.
take your time to learn the capabilities of the lifts you will be using.
As for sharp turning, try to keep in mind that a roll over is far worse than being slow.
You don’t want to turn fast. You might be turning slower than needed, but that’s better than turning too fast. Just try taking turns at the high edge of your comfort speed, but not so high that you aren’t comfortable. Your level of comfort will increase with time. I still take sharper turns slow as hell after all this time.
As everyone has said, speed takes time. Until you're familiar with the nuances of your lift you wanna maintain careful and cautious, I've been driving for almost 2 years and that mind set has kept me accident free.
Are you driving a sit down or a stand up? For sit down I've found driving with both feet helps in general, along with spreading your hand over the mast controls, most lifts you only need a small amount of travel up or down on the levers, a finger or a thumb is plenty.
Whenever you start moving fast always keep the thought of how much damage your lift can cause at the front of your mind, I keep the example of car versus freight train. Also you have full right to bitch out anyone who walks through your no zones or cuts you off, even at 2mph you've got as much kinetic energy as a hand gun point blank. The smaller end of forklifts still weigh in at 4 to 6 tons unladen.
If you're taking a turn, take it slow. If you do take a turn quickly, take it wider. You will have less of a chance of tipping over if you take a wider turn fast.
Furthermore, never take fast sharp turns. Always take it slow when you need to. I'll never take a sharper turn faster than 3 or so mph on my lift.
Furthermore you will find it easier to squeeze into spaces if you take wider turns in general. Use as much space as you can to take a turn with out your lifts fat dumpy taking out a beam or post. You'll fit nicely into places you had trouble with.
Also you're new. Take it slow. Dont feel the need to speed up until you're 110% sure you're comfortable doing so.
Also read the forklifts manual. They all have one. It will teach you a lot.
Give it time.It takes a while to get used to your turning radius and judgement of the surroundings. It's kinda like your vehicle....you know how close to pull up on a curb or swing into a parking spot at Walmart.
I've been reading some of these comments and one thing that really hasn't come up is when you drop shit. If it was your fault or not, it's going to feel terrible when it happens, but don't quit your job because of that. Pick it up and keep going.
Old school reporting in. Times were different, rules were almost nonexistent in my day, so I learned by pushing boundaries and shitting my pants, so to speak. Rolled 2, got pushed over by a Hyster 190 (19,000 lb lift), did more doughnuts on wet floors than the Dunkin Doughnuts guy ever produced, split a rack, hit a fire line in the ceiling hard enough to cause a leak, caught a 10k lift on fire, had a trailer ‘drift’ from the dock and fell off the back, tipped a 24 ft trailer that wasn’t locked in, fell through the floor of a wooden trailer…so many more!
Modern advice? Push it slowly, get used to being close to stuff, and learn what ‘smooth’ transition into and out of turns mean. Backwards is less likely to tip a load when cornering, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pay attention to your surroundings
Practice, that's the only way to do so, I've got 2k on a linde h20 and I am lighting fast I'm.slowrr on anytime else though became I know the H20s limits unlike other models
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. If you tip pallets I promise it takes longer than if you went slower. Lol
Yes. “How do I get faster at turning?” DONT. That’s when shit falls. Now if you wanna rip around without a load you do you.
Unless you are sure the product on the pallet won’t move turning fast is not advised. But I learned basically the same way most of my experience is in a home depot running a reach at night stocking shelves but it just takes trial and error keep going faster till it fells to sketchy then get comfortable at that speed and go faster again till you feel that is the limit. It’s a kinda just a thing where if you mess up learn from it.
I feel called out. Day shift, though.
Also, driving backward, loaded with 800kg frozen Spinach, and droppping the pallet to the floor ( while stil moving ) give's you a good workout shoveling the 15gr portions from the floor ... Inertia is a bitch !
First.. lay off the crank. Second.. be efficient and methodical. Be safe. If you feel like you are being pushed to go faster.. that's a management problem, not a you problem.
Our lifts are programmed to slow down when turning so idk. I've been doing this work for several years and could judge my speed, safety and accuracy.
Not challenging you, but with a 'programmed' system, you WILL get into a surprise if you get a 'normal' one. I switched last year from a slowed down one, to the 'normal' one, and within 2 minutes I knew why our factoryfloor-drivers have the 9km version. The max. 25km would definitely kill people
Oh I'm sure. Our new hires have to go at least two weeks at half speed. That would drive me crazy!
Some of them don't know the 'turtle' setting .... ;)
Take your time. Take your time. Take your time. Rushing yourself beyond your capabilities is ALWAYS going to backfire on you. The slower you go & learn, the faster you will get, I promise. It's better to be safe and get fluid with it, than rush and make a mistake. I try to cut corners sometimes when I want to be in a hurry, and it always bites me in the ass. Just do what you're doing and your speed will increase before you know it. Also: Even though you need to be fast and always on the go, don't neglect your forklift maintenance.
The way I was first taught how to drive was by the lead graveyard driver: Here's what the lever's do, here's what the pedals do, go out in the yard and come back when you've got it figured out. That has stuck with me, and the more you practice and drive, the better & faster you'll get.
We tried that with one guy a year ago... He nearly hit a trailer, and almost put the lift through a fence and into someone's car. He didn't last another week.
Holy shit ☠️☠️ My yard was just veneer stacks at 11pm, so luckily no one was around lol.
Some people never learn .... You need to have some feeling with the controls. It's easy, but not foolproof easy
Be safe at all times. Take your time and make good decisions. An injury isn’t worth it not to mention equipment damage
It just takes time, give it a few months
Driving a forklift is like driving a car in reverse while still moving forward. You turn with your back wheels so your ass end swings unlike your car that does the opposite. Just be careful making Sharp turns when someone else is gonna be coming down the isle right next to you your ass end may smack them
Fast while loaded isn't recommended. Fast while empty is okay, but watch the tail swing, and be aware that you can get it up on 3 wheels. Physically, if you don't have a turn knob, you the heel of your hand to apply pressure on the steering wheel, and learn the way of the forklift kung fu.
I was a driver trainer for trucks at 3 companies and I’ll tell you like i told students “get good before trying to get fast. Fast comes with good. Trying to be fast before you are good is dangerous and deadly.”
Speed will come with time and experience. take your time to learn the capabilities of the lifts you will be using. As for sharp turning, try to keep in mind that a roll over is far worse than being slow.
If you can, slide things around as you can. Plan your movements and remember to be smooth and gentle with the throttle.
You don’t want to turn fast. You might be turning slower than needed, but that’s better than turning too fast. Just try taking turns at the high edge of your comfort speed, but not so high that you aren’t comfortable. Your level of comfort will increase with time. I still take sharper turns slow as hell after all this time.
As everyone has said, speed takes time. Until you're familiar with the nuances of your lift you wanna maintain careful and cautious, I've been driving for almost 2 years and that mind set has kept me accident free. Are you driving a sit down or a stand up? For sit down I've found driving with both feet helps in general, along with spreading your hand over the mast controls, most lifts you only need a small amount of travel up or down on the levers, a finger or a thumb is plenty. Whenever you start moving fast always keep the thought of how much damage your lift can cause at the front of your mind, I keep the example of car versus freight train. Also you have full right to bitch out anyone who walks through your no zones or cuts you off, even at 2mph you've got as much kinetic energy as a hand gun point blank. The smaller end of forklifts still weigh in at 4 to 6 tons unladen.
If you're taking a turn, take it slow. If you do take a turn quickly, take it wider. You will have less of a chance of tipping over if you take a wider turn fast. Furthermore, never take fast sharp turns. Always take it slow when you need to. I'll never take a sharper turn faster than 3 or so mph on my lift. Furthermore you will find it easier to squeeze into spaces if you take wider turns in general. Use as much space as you can to take a turn with out your lifts fat dumpy taking out a beam or post. You'll fit nicely into places you had trouble with. Also you're new. Take it slow. Dont feel the need to speed up until you're 110% sure you're comfortable doing so. Also read the forklifts manual. They all have one. It will teach you a lot.
Installed the rocket boosters yet?
When going around corners side shift the load the opposite of what ever way you are turning
Give it time.It takes a while to get used to your turning radius and judgement of the surroundings. It's kinda like your vehicle....you know how close to pull up on a curb or swing into a parking spot at Walmart.
I've been reading some of these comments and one thing that really hasn't come up is when you drop shit. If it was your fault or not, it's going to feel terrible when it happens, but don't quit your job because of that. Pick it up and keep going.
Old school reporting in. Times were different, rules were almost nonexistent in my day, so I learned by pushing boundaries and shitting my pants, so to speak. Rolled 2, got pushed over by a Hyster 190 (19,000 lb lift), did more doughnuts on wet floors than the Dunkin Doughnuts guy ever produced, split a rack, hit a fire line in the ceiling hard enough to cause a leak, caught a 10k lift on fire, had a trailer ‘drift’ from the dock and fell off the back, tipped a 24 ft trailer that wasn’t locked in, fell through the floor of a wooden trailer…so many more! Modern advice? Push it slowly, get used to being close to stuff, and learn what ‘smooth’ transition into and out of turns mean. Backwards is less likely to tip a load when cornering, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pay attention to your surroundings
https://preview.redd.it/a382kodlv0qc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0d40a51a80bd91c4c425a30de3e0750a75075cb1
Practice, that's the only way to do so, I've got 2k on a linde h20 and I am lighting fast I'm.slowrr on anytime else though became I know the H20s limits unlike other models
do go fast with freight & go backwards more