You Try Being a Forklift for a Day

7:00 p.m. Oh know. I thought I was going to rest for a while, I’ve already worked a 12-hour shift. I see a driver looking at me. Great, the driver wants me to work another 8 hours. See, we’re getting close to the holidays, and all those humans want me to do is work, work, work. After a while, I get a bit worn out.

I heard my favorite maintenance human say that he installed some sort of forklift monitoring system on me. I’m not sure what that means. But I do seem to be very hi-tech.

How to Get a Clean Bill of Health

Here comes the driver. I know this human. This human doesn’t take good care of me. The driver likes to jump into the seat and go. Never pays attention that I just got off shift and I need to cool down. Interesting…the driver is not going anywhere. My driver scanned that badge hanging around his neck. What’s going on? Now the driver is slowing walking around me, giving me a thumbs up or down. Does my driver actually care about me?

I see that thing called a forklift monitoring system give a message to my driver that says ‘Inspection passed’. I did? I guess I’m in better shape that I thought. Must be my favorite maintenance worker. He always makes me feel better.

Okay, I’m ready. Let’s get moving!

Is that a Human Behind that Box?

All I do is react to the orders the driver gives me. I try to watch out, but most times I can’t see with that big load I’m carrying. I can only do one thing at a time.

Time to get a load.

Wait…I feel a little different, like a got eyes…everywhere. I heard my maintenance worker tell someone about sensors scanning at 60ms in all 4 directions. I wonder if that’s why I can see everything…and I mean everything!

We just turned down my favorite aisle. I can ‘see’ a big box down the aisleway and we’re not even close. It’s just sitting there next to the rack. These humans usually keep the aisles clear for me. Wait!! My eyes just sprang into action. I see someone bending down behind that big box! Now that I can see it, how can I tell my driver?

A sound. Did I just do that? And a flashing picture of a box on my tablet. I feel so hi-tech. My driver paid attention to what I’m communicating. My driver stopped. This is cool. No accident with the human.

You’re Not Supposed to Be Here

My driver just turned me off because he went to help the worker behind the box. That was nice. My driver helped the worker out and they both are out of sight. We have things to do, so I’ll wait.

Someone is coming. Who are you? I don’t know this human. Why are you climbing into my seat? Don’t touch my controls! I’ve had this before where a worker thinks I’m a fun ride. They accelerate fast and drive in tight circles. Very irritating as I can’t tell them to stop.

But this time I’m not going anywhere.

It’s like I’m giving him the silent treatment. I’m not turning on even when the human tries to use my hi-tech equipment. Ha, take that! Walk away…yup, that’s right. My new forklift monitoring system has some sort of access control. Nobody but my driver can sit in this driver seat. I think I like what maintenance did with this new forklift monitoring system.

Ouch, that Hurts!

Well, my driver came back and we’re off again. I heard the driver say that we’re a couple orders behind for our shift. Okay, I’ll try a little harder and faster to make up the time. Hey, be careful! You’re turning the corner too fast! Ouch. That hurts. A bit of a bump on the corner of the rack. Okay, we’re almost there, time to back up and get into position.

Ouch! Again? My driver is going too fast, I bumped into a pallet jack sitting next to the racking system. That impact was a bit of a hit. Sometimes, these really hurt. I’ve got so many scratches and dents. Why can’t I look like I did after they assembled me?

I Told On You!

4:00 a.m. I may not be able to talk, but I found out that I’ve been keeping track of everything. Every time my driver hit something. I recorded it on my Dashboard’s forklift monitoring system. Every time you almost hit something, got that too. Everything you did, I kept track of it. The report gave you a safety score.

Well, I guess you did okay. See you at work tomorrow.