Forklift Drivers

[RichM]

We have all seen yahoo's speeding and driving fork lifts with no regard for people around .

The Toledo Blade newspaper reported that yesterday a 30 year old woman was killed at the Pilkington Glass plant in Rossford Ohio by a forklift that struck her and ran over her. The driver said he did not see her due to a pallet that he was carrying.

So pay attention to these guys,some of them are down right dangerous when they try to race each other and see who can get into your truck first.

 

[Jefferson3000]

About a year or so ago I was picking up at Forward Air in Tampa. It was right after the Fast and the Furious movie about drifting in cars. Wouldn't you just guess what those guys were doing on forklifts? Yep. Slding all over the pavement on the warehouse. One guy came up to help out the next customer and almost slid his tow motor into about 4 people. Some people are just fools.


Drive Safe!

Jeff

Driver for 15 years
O/O for 13 years
OOIDA #829119

 

[redytrk]

Not too long ago there was a case of a fork lift driving onto a truck and pinning a co-driver between skids. Her husband reported her missing,and she was found sometime later DEAD.
More Cases...
http://www.ttt-services.co.uk/USA.htm

 

[nighttrain]

here is a funny tow motor mishap
when i was working for a plumbing supply company there was this old guy who was a driver
well long story short i guess he was putting material away and we heard this god awful scream coming from the back we all ran back there and this guy somehow left towmotor in gear got out on the side by the wall and it started to move and pinned him between the wall and towmotor
while the whole time it was itching forward crushin him
but he got out of there without a scratch and after that anytime he was using it to unload or load the trucks everyone gave him a wide berth lol

 

[nighttrain]

here is an even better one when my grandfather was younger he used to work for cf up here in richfield ohio (this was many many many years ago)

but i guess they bet my grandad that he wouldnt drive the towmotor off the dock while he was still on it well he was 100 bucks richer but was off work for 6 months due to to broken legs and i forget what else

ya all be safe out there
and have a safe 4th of july

and remember this its not all fun and games till someone blows a finger off with fireworks

 

[Streakn1]

Those actions by certain forklift drivers is exactly why I wont allow them in our truck. They are told to drop it on the dock or wait until I drop it there when unloading. Many don't seem to care that you own the truck and what you have invested in it. It seems they are more than happy to tear up the inside of your box and steal your equipment when your back is turned.

Sadly for the few good forklift drivers out there,I've come to trust none of them because of the actions of the bad ones!

 

[nighttrain]

not all tow motor drivers are bad but why take a chance then get someone who dont know how and ram their forks through the wall

i know in ohio alot of places you need a tow motot license
not sure what other states do
plus been to plenty of docks an tow notor op wont go onto a box truck no matter what

 

[FIS53]

All these mishaps with forklifts reminds of a few back when I worked in a warehouse.

First one was an older fella named Garvin, he was ordered to unload a truck. However the lead hand beat bhim to it and signed off so the driver hopped in his rig and started to go. Only problem was garvin had finally got into the rear of the truck and as the truck came up out of the dock, the forklift came out the back of the truck. The foreman and I watched it fly out and do a complete flip upside down. He thought Garvin was still on the lift but he had jumped off. It was a small one you stood on (no seat). It did not have the best brakes. The truck driver found garvin standing in the back of his truck (he never closed his rear door) at his next stop.

The other at that same warehouse was a young guy named Vince. His bad habit was destruction. He broke skids while loading (pity the receivers), he raised the roof on one trailer, took off a side door on another unit (took it right off its hinges), put the forks through the front on another trailer, tore two full sheets of plywood off a brand new Freuhauf trailer (the trucker had just picked up the trailer from the dealer, this was its first load)and more. He cost the company $22000 in goods damaged and forklift repairs (he burned off a set of tires in less than 6 months). Needless to say he was fired.

I really did have quite few laughs over the various incidents from this guy. One day though I was loading a truck and it had to be done fast. So I was rushing rather nicely and the plant manager stepped out of the office into the warehouse when I was going by at full speed. His clothes literally flapped in the breeze of the load (i missed him by 2-3 inches). This cat lifttruck did about 25mph. I was watching the other side at that point as I was coming to the packing area and had to watch for the workers there (some never looked out for the forklifts).

As a side note, some of our drivers (me incl'd) had to get forklift lic. Company paid for it. We deliver to one customer afterhours and no forklift operators, so we do it.

Rob Fis

 

[Broompilot]

There is always just one bad driver. In all of my dealings with them for the most part, if I showed concern, care, and respect for my property and the customers. It was returned in favor.

The comment I always tell them to drop it. I think or "have experenced an injury being a HERO" The fork lift can lift, push, and just out work me and my foot I inured last year by tearing a ligiment in my foot bone by being a human fork lift.

Dont do what a machine is designed to do "like push a 4K pallet" even thought you think you can your only putting yourself one push away from months of pain or maybee more? Your truck is a machine, it is designed to handle abuse, which is normal in this line of work. None of want our trucks damaged but it can always be repaired, thus carry a camera for just in case.

I have had one incident where a operator damaged my truck, it was handled with a stern letter not demanding but stern. Bill was paid in FULL, and no inujuries other than the operators ego, and he was apoligetic.

 

[greg334]

Well A long time ago when I was at the GM tech center visiting there was an accident in the lower level where they built the prototype cars. A lot of blind corners, no mirrors around and no horns were used at that time. someone on a lift was flying at a high rate of speed, cut a blind corner hard and very close impaling someone on one of the forks. We saw the post accident scene when they took the body off the forks, what a mess and it really took away from the visit.

I can't understand why companies allow some of these drivers the latitude, especially if one is run over or hit, what a nice lawsuit that turns out to be. Been to a few places where there were very close calls, D-C in Indiana is one place where they really bang up things.