To estimate the annual and monthly forklift maintenance costs, use our forklift maintenance and repair costs estimator below.

You will need to know how many operating hours you will use. Like miles on a car, the operating hours on a forklift determine the service and repair intervals for a forklift. The more you use a forklift, the more you can expect the maintenance costs to go up.

How to Estimate the Cost of Forklift Maintenance

Every forklift dealer has historical data on what it costs to maintain a forklift based on hours. They use the cost per operating hour to determine how much a full maintenance contract will cost. Using this guide, forklift dealers and repair companies can accurately estimate the retail price for forklift maintenance.

Failing Forklift Batteries Increase the Cost of Forklift Maintenance

When a battery if fully charged, the voltage of the battery is usually a few volts higher than the nominal voltage. What that means is that the voltage of a 36 volt battery is often 38 volts or more when fully charged.

Similarly, and discharged battery does to produce the same voltage. The drop in voltage can be 4 volts less than the nominal voltage. Therefore, a 36 volt battery can be as low as 32 volts when discharged.

As Volts Decrease Amps Increase to Maintain Current

Your forklift draws current to run. When volts reduce, amps increase to deliver the same current. Therefore, as the a battery discharges, the voltage lessens ang the amps increase, putting greater strain on the electrical components inside a forklift truck.

Therefore, expect the price of forklift maintenance to increase when a battery underperforms.

Fuel Cells Deliver a Constant Voltage and Reduce the Cost of Forklift Maintenance

Man driving a forklift powered by a fuel cell
Image: Fuels cells reduce forklift maintenance costs due to the constant voltage they deliver

Fuel cells for forklifts deliver a constant voltage, usually about 40-volts for a 36-volt lift truck. This keeps amps low and reduces the heating and cooling cycle that damages electrical components, adding to maintenance costs.

Use our calculator below to estimate the cost to maintain a forklift and the estimated maintenance savings you can expect from converting your fleet from batteries to hydrogen fuel cells. Add an estimated additional 14% (28% total maintenance savings) when switching from internal combustion forklifts to electric forklifts equipped with fuel cells. The reason is electric forklifts cost approximately 14% less to maintain compared to the equivalent I.C. model.

For more handy warehouse efficiency calculators click here.

How Much Does it Cost to Maintain a Forklift?

Interested to Learn More about Fuel Cells for Forklifts?

Here is a fuel cell designed to work in a forklift. If you want to learn more about how fuel cells work, click here.

Forklift Fuel Cell on a pallet
Image: forklift fuel cell with the cover off
man refueling a forklift fuel cell
Image: Operator refueling a forklift fuel cell. It takes on average only 90 secs to refill the forklift with enough hydrogen for a full shift

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