One conversation I have had hundreds of times over the years starts the same way: “Gene, I found a forklift online that is $8,000 cheaper than yours.” Sometimes, they are absolutely right. Sometimes they have found an excellent machine at a great price. But just as often, that lower purchase price is only the beginning of the story. Price Is Only One Number When evaluating a used forklift, the purchase price is easy to compare. The real cost is not.

One of the things this business has taught me over the years is that the best forklifts rarely get anyattention. Nobody calls me to say,“Gene, our forklift worked perfectly again today.” They call when production stops.They call when a shipment cannot get loaded.They call when an operator is standing around waiting on a machine that should have been working.That is simply the nature of this business.The forklifts that receive the most praise are often the ones that do not get

People often ask why Forklift Exchange is so successful with large-capacity forklifts. The answer isn’t marketing. It’s experience. For decades, we owned and operated what was, at the time, the world’s largest manufacturer of large-capacity cushion tire forklifts. We didn’t just sell the product—we designed it, engineered it, and built it. Every truck started with raw steel. We purchased the steel, laser cut it, formed it, machined it, welded it, painted it, assembled it, tested it, and supported it after