Q What is the optimum efficient working life of a fork lift truck?
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AWe are not aware of any relative survey
having been carried out in the UK. But in the United States, Eaton, Yale and Towne have carried out a large-scale survey using a computer. According to this survey, capable maintenance crews can operate trucks intensively for 10 years or more but costs tend to be high after six years. Then costs per hour increased sharply when allowance was made for the cost of "down-time", i.e. non-productive time while under repair.
Cost standards are applied by some large companies in the UK to the performance of industrial trucks. But experience suggests that economic life varies even from department to department. Inter-company comparisons could also be misleading because both the work carried out by the trucks and the proficiency of those who operate them varies so much.