Whole life forklift costs most important, finds TCM survey

Four out of five forklift truck fleet operators believe that lifetime operating costs are more important than the truck purchase price, according a survey by TCM.

Interim results from the survey suggest that a significant majority of forklift buyers are now looking beyond the upfront ‘forecourt price’ of the truck and making tactical evaluations of total cost of ownership.

Ashley-Kate McCann, TCM’s brand manager said: “We have always known that savvy buyers understand total lifecycle costs and factor this into their buying strategy. But what this evidence strongly suggests is that now the overwhelming majority of buyers are thinking this way”.

“Reliability, service response capability and product durability are clearly at the top of truck buyers’ agenda as these can really impact on cost and performance, but closely followed by the key questions on energy consumption, maintenance and other service contract details which all compute to total lifetime costs that make a business case stand up to scrutiny”, she said.