You will find a range of security features that are common to certain types of trucks like seat belts on sit-down vehicles. On most stand-up vehicles there are dead-man petals as well. Moreover, some manufacturers are providing more features such as speed controls that can decrease the overall speed based on load height and steering angle. For more information, there are many articles available on Lift Truck Safety and Loading Dock Safety.
Service and Support
A big part of forklift selection is to make certain that you maintain access to high levels of service and support. Each year, there seems to be a wider array of new players within the forklift industry. Even though they offer a decent lift truck design and a good price, if they do not offer the local or regional service and support infrastructure, you should be prepared for major aggravation when the lift truck goes down. Each and every lift truck model goes down at some point and parts, service and general questions would probably have to be answered at some point.
Generally, you will want a local repair shop or dealer with a huge supply of parts for the specific make and model you are buying. Be sure to visit the dealership or the repair shop and check their parts room so as to try to know how many parts they stock. Make certain to inquire that if they do not have the component you need, where would it come from? With a bit of luck, the answer will be from a regional or local distribution facility.
Additionally, try to get some ideas as to how many of those particular models are presently being utilized within your area. This is very important for specialty trucks including turret trucks. If there are only a small amount of trucks in use in their service area that you should assume they may not be stocking many if any parts for them. As well, they can have very little overall experience in servicing that particular model too.