How To Become A Fork Lift Mechanic: What It Is and Career Path

What is a fork lift mechanic and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

As a forklift mechanic, your job is to perform regular service, maintenance, and repair work on a lift truck. This involves working with hydraulic systems, maintaining electrical systems, and checking for structural problems.

You typically develop and follow a scheduled maintenance plan for all machines, troubleshoot issues as they occur, maintain an inventory of spare parts, and generally work to ensure mechanical problems affect warehouse operations as rarely as possible.

Employers may ask you to work unusual shifts, including evening or weekend call-ins as necessary. Aside from direct repair work, you may be responsible for maintaining a battery charging area, driving around to pick up supplies, and recording work-orders and maintenance logs to track the history of each forklift.

There is no educational requirement to become a forklift mechanic, though earning an associate's degree in heavy equipment operation may make you a more valuable candidate in the job market and provide you with an opportunity to earn around $51,862.

ScoreFork Lift MechanicUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,082

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.83%

Asian 2.50%

Black or African American 15.01%

Hispanic or Latino 16.50%

Unknown 4.40%

White 60.77%

Gender

female 8.41%

male 91.59%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a fork lift mechanic

Explore fork lift mechanic education requirements

Most common fork lift mechanic degrees

High School Diploma

51.2 %

Diploma

19.5 %

Associate

12.5 %

Start to develop specific fork lift mechanic skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	30.08%
Fork-Lift	27.09%
OSHA	17.74%
Routine Maintenance	5.43%
Pallets	3.92%

Complete relevant fork lift mechanic training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New fork lift mechanics learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a fork lift mechanic based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real fork lift mechanic resumes.

Research fork lift mechanic duties and responsibilities

Complete all repairs and maintenance to company and ANSI standards.
Pick orders from order sheet, put items on pallets, and deliver them to the trailers using a forklift
Move pallets and stacking.-Computer proficient-Strong Microsoft XP knowledge-communicate well with others as a team or individually.
Document repairs, modifications and inspections in accordance with FAA requirements on both paper and in an automate maintenance information database.

Prepare your fork lift mechanic resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your fork lift mechanic resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a fork lift mechanic resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable fork lift mechanic resume templates

Build a professional fork lift mechanic resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your fork lift mechanic resume.