The majority of reach trucks and forklifts come with many common security features, like seat belts on sit-down vehicles. Stand-up vehicles will usually have dead-man petals. In addition, some manufacturers are providing extra features such as speed controls which could reduce the overall speed based on steering angle and load height. For more info, there are many articles available on Lift Truck Safety and Loading Dock Safety.
Support and Service
Making certain you would maintain access to high levels of support and service is a very vital part of forklift selection. There seem to be a variety of new players within the lift truck industry each and every year. Although they offer a good price and a decent lift truck design, if they do not offer the local or regional service and support infrastructure, you must be prepared for significant stress when the lift truck breaks. Every lift truck model goes down sooner or later and parts, service and general questions would probably have to be addressed at some point.
Generally, you will want a local dealer or repair shop with a great supply of components for the specific make and model you are buying. Be sure to visit the repair shop or the dealership and take a look at their parts room so as to try to understand how many parts they stock. Make certain to inquire that if they do not have the part you require, where will it come from? With a bit of luck, the answer would be from a local or regional distribution facility.
Try to get some additional ideas on the models presently utilized within your area. This is doubly important for specialty trucks like turret trucks. If there are only a small amount of trucks being utilized in their service area that you should assume they may not be stocking many if any parts for them. In addition, they can have very little overall experience in servicing that model as well.