How To Become A Forklift Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a forklift technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Forklift technicians repair and maintain forklifts in a warehouse or factory. Forklifts are valuable machinery that help move heavy objects and lift them into place. Forklift technicians make sure that these important pieces of equipment are able to stay in business.

Forklift technicians need to know a lot about maintenance and troubleshooting in order to keep forklifts in tip-top shape. They use a variety of tools, from hand drills to soldering irons, in order to maintain equipment. Forklift technicians also need to be experts in less glamorous aspects of the job, such as following safety regulations and filing paperwork to keep track of the company fleet.

Becoming a forklift technician requires very little formal education. Most forklift technicians have only a high school diploma, although earning an associate's degree or certificate in diesel technology or OSHA standards. It helps if a forklift technician has some practical experience working as a mechanic as well. It takes a little bit of effort to become qualified to work as a forklift technician but it is worth it--they earn an average salary of $46,571 per year.

ScoreForklift TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,589

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.2

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 1.69%

Black or African American 4.84%

Hispanic or Latino 16.63%

Unknown 3.76%

White 72.36%

Gender

female 4.45%

male 95.55%

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

8.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a forklift technician

Explore forklift technician education requirements

Most common forklift technician degrees

High School Diploma

35.9 %

Associate

29.4 %

Diploma

17.1 %

Start to develop specific forklift technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Troubleshoot	70.13%
Preventative Maintenance	3.47%
Safety Procedures	3.25%
Hand Tools	2.99%
General Repairs	1.77%

Complete relevant forklift technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New forklift technicians 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 forklift technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real forklift technician resumes.

Research forklift technician duties and responsibilities

Organize and preform OSHA inspections for overhead hoists.
Pick outbound orders using AS400 RF system using FIFO.
Load and unload trucks by hand with Forklift/double forks.
Employ wide variety of hand and power tools including hoists, drills, precision measuring instruments and electrical testing devices.

Prepare your forklift technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your forklift technician resume.

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