Inspection template in the LeanSuite app
Last reviewed
Forklift maintenance checklist: weekly inspection
A forklift maintenance checklist goes past the operator's daily check to the wear items a technician looks at each week: mast rails, rollers and chains, hydraulic hoses and cylinders, fork and carriage wear, brakes and steering, tires and wheel nuts, the battery or engine fluids, and lights, horn, backup alarm and beacon. This one has 11 questions in four sections, starting with the truck ID and hour meter reading.
Under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7), each truck must be examined before it goes into service, at least daily, and that is the operator's pre-use check. This weekly record belongs to maintenance or the fleet lead, and its last two questions keep it honest: every defect gets a work order, and the next service date is shown and not overdue. The failure it catches early is the slow one: a chain stretching until the forks sit uneven, a weeping lift cylinder that leaves a trail of oil down the aisle, or a truck that runs well past its service hours because nobody read the meter.
What it is for, as built: Weekly maintenance-level inspection of a forklift, beyond the daily operator check.
The full question list
The 11 questions in the inspection
Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A. Each No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, so the finding arrives with its evidence.
Mast and forks
- 1Mast rails, rollers and chains are lubricated and not worn
- 2Hydraulic hoses and cylinders have no leaks or damage
- 3Forks and carriage are within wear limits
Drive and brakes
- 4Brakes and parking brake work properly
- 5Steering is smooth with no excess play
- 6Tyres and wheel nuts are in good condition
Power and electrics
- 7Battery cables, connectors and water levels are checked (electric trucks)
- 8Fluid levels are correct and there are no engine leaks (engine trucks)
- 9Lights, horn, backup alarm and beacon work
Records
- 10Defects found are logged with a work order
- 11Next service date is shown and not overdue
Worked example, illustrative
A filled-in example
One section as it might be filled in on the floor, with every other section of the inspection answered Yes. The place and finding are made up to show how the inspection reads and scores.
Result: pass, 90.9% against a pass mark of 90
- 11 questions, all of them count.
- 1 answered No, so 10 of 11 are Yes: 10 ÷ 11 = 90.9%.
- 90.9% is at or above 90, so the inspection passes. The No still needs its fix.
What happened next: Technician tagged the truck out on the spot. Maintenance replaced the cylinder seal the next morning before first shift.
Scored here as one point per question with N/A left out. In the app each answer carries the points set on the template, so change them after you clone it if your plant weighs some checks more.
Forklift Weekly Maintenance Inspection
Inspection, weekly
- Truck ID
- Truck 07
- Hour meter reading
- 4,812 h
Mast and forks
- Mast rails, rollers and chains are lubricated and not wornYes
- Hydraulic hoses and cylinders have no leaks or damageNo
Comment: Weeping at the lift cylinder seal, oil film down the mast and a drip trail along aisle 4 where the truck parks.
Photo attached to the No
- Forks and carriage are within wear limitsYes
When to use it
- Once a week.
- The person responsible for the area or equipment answers each question on the spot.
- Each record starts with: Truck ID, Hour meter reading.
How it is scored
The template is built with points per answer and a pass mark of 90. In this library every audit is set to pass at 80 and every inspection at 90. Each submitted inspection shows its score and pass or fail, and every No is flagged with its photo and comment.
Change the points or the pass mark after you clone it. How rules and scoring work.
Read and print
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FAQ
Forklift maintenance checklist: weekly inspection: common questions
Weekly per truck as built, on top of the operator's daily pre-use check required under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7). Inspect sooner after a collision or tip, after any hydraulic or brake repair, when a truck comes back from loan or another site, when an operator reports a change in feel, and when a truck runs double shifts and racks up hours fast.
A maintenance technician or the fleet lead who knows the wear limits for forks and chains, how to measure them and what a weeping cylinder looks like. They need the truck's service history and hour meter. Defects go to the maintenance lead for work orders, and a truck with a brake, steering or fork fault stays parked until the lead signs it back in.
A fail means a part may let go under load: a fork heel past its wear limit, a stretched chain, soft brakes. Take the truck out of service now, tag it and remove the key. Put the defect on a work order with a date, and tell the shift which truck is down so nobody borrows it. In this template every No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, and an inspection that scores under its pass mark of 90 is a fail.
Keep the truck ID, hour meter reading, date, each defect with its work order number, any measurements such as fork thickness or chain stretch, and the next service date. Week on week the hours show which trucks work hardest, and the defect history shows which ones are due for replacement rather than another repair. In LeanSuite each submitted inspection is stored with its score, its pass or fail, and the photo and comment on every No.
11 questions in 4 sections: mast and forks, drive and brakes, power and electrics, and records. Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A.
Use this template in LeanSuite
It is ready in the Template Marketplace inside Lean Creator as “Forklift Weekly Maintenance Inspection”. Clone it into your plant, change any question, then schedule it to a person, role or asset with reminders. Auditors complete it on a phone or tablet, with photo evidence where required.
Not on LeanSuite yet? On a 90-day pilot our team sets up your account and digitizes the forms and checklists you use today, this one included.