In most parts of the forklift business, inventory is expected to turn. Buy the right machine, price it correctly, and move it along. But once you get into very high-capacity equipment, the economics change.

Sometimes the right decision is to buy a forklift knowing it may sit for months — or even a year — before the right customer comes along.

A 92,000-Lb Taylor Is a Good Example

Forklift Exchange currently has a 92,000-lb Taylor in inventory. It is an older machine, but it is solid, runs well, and still has plenty of useful life in the right application.

We are not expecting the phone to ring every day with someone asking for a 92,000-lb forklift. The buyer pool for a machine that large is naturally small.

But the number of dealers willing to own and inventory a machine like that is even smaller. That is what makes specialized high-capacity inventory different.

When the Need Is Rare, Availability Matters More

A company that suddenly needs a 92,000-lb forklift does not have the same shopping experience as someone looking for a common 5,000-lb warehouse truck. There may be only a handful of viable machines available at any given time.

The same dynamic can show up with 30,000-, 40,000- and 60,000-lb forklifts, unusual mast configurations, large pneumatics, specialty cushion trucks, and other machines built for demanding industrial work.

In these categories, the question is not simply, “Who has the lowest price?” The first question is often, “Who actually has a machine that can do the job?”

Why We Buy Before We Have the Buyer

If we waited until a customer called before we began searching for every specialized forklift, we would often be too late. High-capacity users can have tight project schedules, production requirements, or replacement needs that do not allow months of searching.

That is why Forklift Exchange is willing to own high-capacity and specialty forklifts that many dealers would rather not carry on their floorplan. Some machines sell quickly. Others take time. The strategy is deliberate.

When the unusual application finally appears, we want to be the company that already has the equipment — or knows where to find it.

High-Capacity Inventory Is a Specialty Business

High-capacity forklift inventory requires more than space. It takes application knowledge, service capability, rebuilding expertise, and the willingness to carry equipment that may not turn at the same pace as ordinary warehouse forklifts.

For end users, that can mean faster access to the right machine. For forklift dealers, it can mean having a resource to call when a customer asks for a capacity or configuration that is outside the dealer’s normal inventory.

The Bottom Line

Sometimes the smartest inventory decision is buying a machine before you have a buyer for it.

That may sound backwards in a conventional equipment business. In high-capacity forklifts, it can be exactly what allows a dealer to solve a customer’s problem when very few other options exist.

If you are looking for a high-capacity forklift that is difficult to find, Forklift Exchange may already have it — or may know where to locate it.

Gene Bayer
National Account Manager
Forklift Exchange, Inc.
847-707-1316
gbayer@forkliftexchange.com