Linde Forklifts.

So where I work, we have a large fleet of around 80 MHE from Jungheinrich. Of which about 50 are Fork lift trucks. The contract is up for renewal soon, and the fleet of FLT's is about 5 years old, with about 16k hours on them.

Linde brought in their demonstrators for us to peruse.

It is safe to say that no one is impressed. Not one person who has tried these trucks likes them.
Yes, they have a very comfortable seat, and the cab suspension is very good. And yes, they are quieter. But all these do not make up for the massive issues this truck has.

They are:

1. The cab is tiny. Not small, but tiny. My left arm touches the door all the time, and when you turn around to look out the rear window there is no where to put your arm. Which leads me to the second major issue:
2. Rear view. A photo may help here:

Yes ladies and gentlemen, your rear view is of the air filter.
30% of my working day is spent going backwards. 30% of my day I will be able to check the air filter. This is a pretty major issue when the bloke at the company I work for specifies low level exhausts to eliminate blind spots. Seriously, how did this get through?
3. Blind spots. They are everywhere. The a pillars, the roof, the stupid bracing at the back, I would estimate there is about 20% less visibility than on the Jungheinrich.

Also the brace across the windscreen obscures the view of stacking a third cage on a stack. Which is a very common thing we do.

4. The steering wheel does not come up high enough and is too upright.

5. There is no where to put your left foot when you have balls as big as mine.

Another point to notice is when I pointed out to the salesman about the rear view, he told me I was turning the wrong way. I was turning over my left shoulder when I should be turning over my right. I pointed out to him that to turn to the right, I would have to rip the control arm out so my legs had somewhere to go.
A very short co-worker of mine also pointed out that when he rotates to the right, he can no longer reach the pedals. Hence he always turns to the left. Infact, we could only find two people that turn to the right when going backwards,


But like most companies that buy stuff, they don't ask the people that use it their opinion, they go with the company that's the cheapest.

But by christ, I hope we don't end up with this crap.