Lift Truck
Lift Truck
Fork Truck Hire – Maintenance is Law
Many companies decide to hire their forklift trucks oppose to buying their own and this can be for any number of reasons but mainly because it works out more economical to hire rather than to buy. One item that needs to be addressed when hiring a forklift truck for the forklift hire company and for the person / company to hire the forklift truck is that regular maintenance checks need to be conducted. Forklift trucks are key pieces of equipment within many businesses and industries and are used on a daily basis. A forklift truck is a very powerful piece of machinery which can cause accidents and injuries if the machine is not used in the correct way or the machine is faulty in anyway. That is why maintenance checks are imperative and are by law legally required. Every employer who owns or is hiring a fork lift truck must ensure that regular checks on the forklift truck are conducted on a daily basis and further checks are to be made on a weekly basis. Furthermore these checks need to be documented and stored in case the company ever needs to review them or they are required for future reference. These checks include the general standard safety guidelines to ensure the fork lift truck is in working order such as the brakes, if these are not working accurately or at all then a serious accident could occur, and so the checks are fairly straightforward and most of it is commonsense. Some of the fork truck parts need to be tested and checked regularly as well, it is quite common for parts within a forklift truck to fail due to the strenuous work of that of a forklift truck so this needs to be kept on top of. Proper and official checklists and forms can be found and used from the FLTA in the daily checks booklet.
Many companies decide to hire their forklift trucks oppose to buying their own and this can be for any number of reasons but mainly because it works out more economical to hire rather than to buy. One item that needs to be addressed when hiring a forklift truck for the forklift hire company and for the person / company to hire the forklift truck is that regular maintenance checks need to be conducted.
Forklift trucks are key pieces of equipment within many businesses and industries and are used on a daily basis. A forklift truck is a very powerful piece of machinery which can cause accidents and injuries if the machine is not used in the correct way or the machine is faulty in anyway. That is why maintenance checks are imperative and are by law legally required. Every employer who owns or is hiring a fork lift truck must ensure that regular checks on the forklift truck are conducted on a daily basis and further checks are to be made on a weekly basis. Furthermore these checks need to be documented and stored in case the company ever needs to review them or they are required for future reference. These checks include the general standard safety guidelines to ensure the fork lift truck is in working order such as the brakes, if these are not working accurately or at all then a serious accident could occur, and so the checks are fairly straightforward and most of it is commonsense. Some of the fork truck parts need to be tested and checked regularly as well, it is quite common for parts within a forklift truck to fail due to the strenuous work of that of a forklift truck so this needs to be kept on top of.
Proper and official checklists and forms can be found and used from the FLTA in the daily checks booklet.
About the Author
 |
 Altec Two Man Fiberglass Bucket 600 LB Capacity Aerial Lift Bucket Truck 2 Man US $500.00 |
 Caterpillar Lift Trucks V60DV70DV80D Service Manual  US $415.95
|
 Suspension Seat for Tractor Truck Construction Equipment Fork Lift USED US $375.00
|
 Caterpillar T60D T70D T80D Lift Trucks Service Manual US $274.95
|
 NEW STARTER MOTOR OLIVER LIFT TRUCK 552 155 GAS US $267.95
|
 NEW 50 AMP ALTERNATOR FOR TCM LIFT TRUCKS A7T03771 US $265.04
|
 OEM NIPPONDENSO ALTERNATOR CASE LIFT TRUCK 586G SERIES III LOADER BACKHOE 580M US $259.95
|
 NEW 40 AMP ALTERNATOR FOR 1989 1994 TOYOTA LIFT TRUCKS 100211 6930 100211 6931 US $198.18
|
 Caterpillar 540S 600S 670S 750S Lift Trucks REC00868 Service Manual US $175.00
|
 FLS122BL New Fork Lift Lift Truck Fold Down Quality Seat w Adj Slide Tracks US $170.00
|
 New alternator for john deere tractor backhoe loader lift truck power unit US $169.95
|
 CATERPILLAR R40 R50 RC60C LIFT TRUCKS SERVICE MANUAL SENB8234 01 US $150.00
|
 NEW 20 AMP ALTERNATOR FOR TOYOTA LIFT TRUCKS 100211 4100 100211 4101 US $148.93
|
 QUALITY SEAT FOR FORK LIFTS LIFT TRUCKS US $131.97
|
 HYSTER CHALLENGER H110 F H130 F H150 F FORKLIFT LIFT TRUCK SERVICE MANUAL US $129.99
|
 New ForkLift Lift Truck Deluxe Seat With Slide Track US $117.00
|
 Nissan Lift Truck Hitachi Alternator Bosch Reman US $95.00
|
 Allis Chalmers ACP 50 2PS Lift Trucks Maintenance Repair Manual US $69.95
|
 1984 MITSUBISHI MODEL 4G33 4G52 4G54 FORK LIFT TRUCKS SERVICE MANUAL US $49.99
|
 1984 MITSUBISHI MODEL 4DQ5 S4E S4E2 FORK LIFT TRUCKS SERVICE MANUAL US $49.99
|
 CATERPILLAR PART MANUALS LIFT TRUCK 2EC15 2EC30 OTHER US $49.99
|
 CAT LIFT TRUCKS OPERATION MAINTENANCE MANUAL BOOK E3000 E3500 EC4000 OTHERS US $49.99
|
 Komatsu Air Filter FD20SV 11 Lift Truck FD20V 11 Lift US $42.74
|
 1978 ALLIS CHAMERS 700 SERIES FORKLIFT LIFT TRUCK SERVICE MANUAL US $39.99
|
 Komatsu Fuel Filter FD30J 12 Lift Truck 8 94419 532 0 US $38.13
|
 K D Ford 355 Tractor Lift Truck Operators Manual US $36.00
|
Before you Sell Your Lift Truck Dealership
Engage other professionals that have experience in business sale transactions and especially the unique valuations of heavy equipment dealers. You may have a great outside accountant that has done your books for years. If he has not been involved in multiple business sales transactions, you should consider engaging a CPA firm that has the experience to advise you on important tax and accounting issues that can literally result in swings of hundreds of thousands of dollars. What are the tax implications of a stock purchase versus an asset purchase? A lower offer on a stock purchase may be far superior to a higher offer on an asset purchase after the impact of taxes on your realized proceeds. Is the accountant that does your books qualified to advise you on that issue? Would your accountant know the best way to allocate the purchase price on an asset sale between hard assets, good will, employment agreements and non-compete agreements? A deal attorney is very different from the attorney you engage for every day business law issues.
Remember, each element of deal structure that is favorable to the seller for tax or risk purposes is generally correspondingly unfavorable to the buyer, and vice versa. Therefore the experienced team for the buyer is under instructions to make an offer with the most favorable tax and reps and warranties consequences for their client. You need a professional team that can match the buyer's team's level of experience with deal structure, legal, and tax issues.
You need to be reasonable in your expectations on sales price and terms. The days of irrational exuberance are over. Strategic buyers, private equity groups, corporate buyers, and other buyers are either very smart or do not last very long as buyers. I hate rules of thumb, but generally there is a range of sales prices for similar businesses with similar growth profiles and similar financial performance.
That being said, however, there is still a range of selling prices. So, for example, let's say that the sales price for a business in the XYZ industry is a multiple of between 4 and 5.5 times EBITDA. Your objective and the objective of a good M&A advisor is to sell your business at the top end of the range under favorable terms. In order for you to sell your business outside of that range you must have a very compelling competitive advantage, collection of intellectual property, unusual growth prospects, or significant barriers to entry that would justify a premium purchase price.
If you think about the process of detailing your car before you offer it for sale, a good M&A advisor will assist you in that process for your business. Let's say, for example, that 4 to 5.5 multiple from above was the metric in your industry and you had an EBITDA for the last fiscal year of $2.5 million. Your gross transaction proceeds could range from $10 million to $13.75 million. A skilled M&A firm with a proven process can move you to the top of your industry's range. The impact of hitting the top of the sales price range vs. the bottom more than justifies the success fee you pay to your M&A professionals.
If your company has any issues like a pending legal action, under funded pension, ground water contamination, etc. get those issues out on the table early in the merger acquisition discussions. A seemingly insignificant minor negative revealed early in the process is an inconvenience, a hurdle, or a point to negotiate around. That same negative revealed during negotiations, or worse yet, during due diligence, becomes, at best, a catalyst for reexamining the validity of every piece of data to, at worse, a deal breaker. No contract in the world can cover every eventuality if there is not a fundamental meeting of the minds and a trust between the two parties.
Unless you are lucky enough to get an all cash offer without any reps and warranties, you are going to be partnered with your buyer for some period in the future. Buyers try to keep you on the hook with reps and warranties that last for a few years, employment contracts, or non-competes that last, escrow funds, seller notes, etc. These all serve a dual role to reduce the risk of future surprises. If future material surprises occur, buyers tend to be punitive in their resolution with the seller. Volunteer to reveal your company's warts early in the process. That will build trust and credibility and will ensure you get to keep all of the proceeds from your sale.
You should be flexible and open to creative deal structure. Everything is a negotiation. You may have in mind that you want a gross purchase price of $13 million and all cash at close. Maybe the market does not support both targets. You may be able to get creative in order to reach that purchase price target by agreeing to carry a seller note. If the sale process produces multiple bids and the best one is $11.3 million cash at close. You may counter with a 7-year seller balloon note at 8% for $3 million with $10 million cash at close. If the buyer is a solid company, that may be a superior outcome than your original target because the best interest return you can currently get on your investments is 4%. Be flexible, be creative, and use your team to negotiate the hard parts and preserve your relationship with the buyer.
You may have spent your life's work building your heavy equipment business to provide you the income, wealth creation, and legacy that you had planned and hoped for. You prepared and were competitive and tireless in your approach. You have one final act in your business. Make that your final business success. Exit on purpose and do it from a position of strength and receive the highest and best deal the market has to offer.
About the Author
Dave Kauppi
is a business broker and President of
MidMarket Capital
. We help business owners with all aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions.
