Understanding Forklift Speed Limits

Sometimes it’s easy to tell when to upgrade equipment. For example, an aerial lift or electric tug may stop working altogether and need to be replaced. But other times, it can be harder to tell if an upgrade is necessary. So here are some common telltales that it’s time for an update:

A warehouse can be filled with safety hazards which, if left unchecked, can cause serious harm to your employees or visitors.

4. You’re having difficulty tracking stock. This may be a sign that your current inventory tracking system isn’t sufficient. You may need to update your inventory software to help future-proof your business.

5. You’re unable to implement new technology. Working technology is essential to a well-functioning warehouse. At times, you may need to upgrade to faster internet or make electrical upgrades to run the software or tools you need to keep your warehouse operating optimally.

6. There’s not enough space. As your business grows, you may find that there’s no longer enough space in your warehouse to store inventory like returns. This calls for adding more space or upgrading to a modern racking system that is more space efficient.

7. Your dock is getting blocked up. If your loading dock starts having scheduling issues or you notice an increase in worker accidents or delivery slowing down, it may be time to upgrade to new scheduling software.

8. Overall productivity is decreasing. Sometimes overall productivity at your business may start to fall. This could happen for a variety of reasons, but one reason might be your warehouse equipment. For example, you may need to rearrange pathways or get a new tracking system.

Did you know that most forklifts can get up to a max speed of 10 MPH? That may not sound very fast, but it’s more than enough speed for a tragic accident. Someone could end up hurt or worse, and your business could suffer costly damage to machinery, supplies, and infrastructure.

In this article, we’ll go over why forklift speed matters. Specifically, we’ll cover official regulations, why it’s important to set your own speed limits, how to set them, and more.

You may be surprised to learn that, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), “OSHA does not have specific speed limits set for the safe operation of a powered industrial truck.” That said, OSHA does have regulations for how forklifts should be operated. These include the following:

Furthermore, there are industry standards that you may want to follow. For example, the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association suggests a “maximum allowable speed of a forklift truck is 8 mph, but in areas where pedestrians move about, the forklift should not move faster than 3 mph.”

Just because there’s not an official forklift speed limit doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set your own. Forklifts can weigh anywhere from 3,000 to 20,000 pounds. Even at low speeds, they carry a lot of force and momentum.

On a similar note, forklifts can require a lot of stopping distance. At 4 MPH, the average forklift needs over 17 feet to come to a full stop. At 8 MPH, it needs 42 feet. Of course, this will vary between machines, so use a calculator to find out how much stopping distance is needed.

Failure to take these factors in mind increases the risk of safety hazards. For one, you could hit people, equipment, or infrastructure. In fact, workers getting hit by forklifts is one of the top causes of lift-truck-related work injuries. When you speed, you risk losing control of the vehicle, not seeing obstacles in time, and tipping over.

This can not only result in tragic accidents but costly fines, penalties, and losses. For example, you may be required to pay OSHA fines, incur expensive medical and legal bills, suffer costly downtime, and damage your reputation among employees and customers.

Setting a forklift speed limit is a balancing act. You want to prioritize safety, but you also want to meet your production goals. Often, the two work against each other. The faster you drive, the faster you can work, but the more dangerous the work becomes.

Our recommendation is to err on the side of caution. It’s better to take things slow than to risk a serious accident that could lead to someone getting hurt or worse and put you behind schedule.

When setting your speed limit, here are some things to consider:

The simplest way you can slow forklift speeds is to properly train operators. This should teach how to drive slowly and with caution, use your horn to alert others of your position, check your blind posts, keep a reasonable stopping distance, maintain a clear view, carry loads low to the ground, and obey traffic laws when driving on regular roads. You can develop an in-house program or outsource it to a professional

Once you have forklift speed regulations in place, you need to enforce them by warning and disciplining noncompliant operators. Of course, there are ways you can be encouraging, too. For example, you could set up speed limit signs across the warehouse, even radar ones that flash “slow down” when passing forklifts exceed the speed limit.

You can apply physical impairments, like speed bumps, or even install mechanical or electronic forklift speed controls. These devices force forklifts to stay under a custom speed limit that you set.

Whatever you do, make forklift safety a priority across the company so everyone knows what’s expected.