My TV repair man came around the other week to fix a problem with my 10 year old flat screen LED. I was somewhat surprised when to my joy the problem was fixed and it only cost me £78. I was expecting the usual ‘Oh sorry mate, that model must be at least 2 years old and you might as well throw it away and buy another one’.

The real issue is that certain technology or equipment has become so much cheaper in recent years that the cost of repairing it when it goes wrong far outweighs the cost of buying a new one compared to the no doubt exorbitant cost that we paid for it over 5 years ago! LED TV`s have in fact stabilised in price over recent years but anyone who probably paid in excess of £2000 for a Plasma 10 years ago would have seen their investment more than half 5 years later.

This all got us thinking about hand hydraulic pallet trucks, sometimes referred to as pump trucks, pallet trucks, collis trucks or hydraulic lifting trucks. The price has hardly changed in the last 20 years. In fact upon checking my records I find that we were selling our premier pallet truck for £290 fifteen years ago and now we sell the similar truck for £268! I hear you immediately say ‘so why was it so expensive back then’! Well, the simple answer is cheaper foreign imports and a market place that became less protected. There used to be several major manufacturers but now there are four fold that amount available to choose from.

The really strange thing is that we have customers who say that because the price of a pallet truck is so comparatively low, why bother to look after them and repair them when they go wrong. These customers must have so much money because for the life of me I cannot understand why not save that money and spend it on a big old Xmas party or drinkies for the workers down the pub on a Friday evening!

Pallet trucks are very easy to service and maintain. Regular servicing will increase the life of the truck by up to 5 times its usual lifespan and should the unforeseen happen and your hydraulic unit fails then it is not the end of the world, just call out a repair man who can fix it for an economical cost. Should the cost be prohibitive we would always advise of your options before proceeding with the repair.

Indeed there are many items of materials handling that can be repaired, fixed or serviced and here we have some useful examples to view.

We are also able to share some very useful information about choosing pallet trucks, the use of them and the good working practises employed in using lifting equipment in general.

So, in general terms, look after you pallet trucks and save some money…….we look forward to an invite to the Xmas party or the Friday drinkies!!!