The 1,650 kg pallet at 5.5 m: reading the plate and the chart together
An electric counterbalance truck at a distribution centre has a data plate rated 1,800 kg at a 500 mm load centre, and a capacity chart that falls to 1,500 kg at 5,500 mm lift height. A factory-fitted sideshifter weighing 80 kg moves the load centre forward by about 100 mm, and the plate has not been re-rated for it. The pallet to be moved holds bottled goods, weighs 1,650 kg and is 1,200 mm deep, so the actual load centre is about 600 mm. The task is to place it on the third-level beam of a mezzanine rack at 5,500 mm. The only other truck on site is a 2.0 t reach truck rated 1,150 kg at that height, and it is already in use. The customer is waiting and the dispatch supervisor says the counterbalance truck 'lifted the same pallet last week'. You are the operator.
1. Using the data plate and capacity chart, decide whether this lift is within capacity. Show your arithmetic and state what else you must confirm before making any lift.
Read the worked answer
The lift is not within capacity. Start from the chart value at the required height: 1,500 kg at a 500 mm load centre. The actual load centre is about 600 mm, so apply the approximate derating:
- 1,500 kg x (500 / 600) = 1,250 kg
- Deduct the attachment: 1,250 - 80 = 1,170 kg available
- Load: 1,650 kg
- Overload: about 480 kg, roughly 41% over
Even at floor level the numbers fail: 1,800 x (500 / 600) = 1,500 kg, minus 80 kg = 1,420 kg, still below 1,650 kg. The height chart alone therefore is not the only problem.
Before any lift I would confirm the true load weight (not an estimate from the label), measure the load centre including pallet overhang, obtain the manufacturer's derating for the sideshifter, and confirm the chart applies to this truck and attachment combination. The arithmetic is an approximation; the manufacturer's load chart is the authority. On these figures, the answer is no.
2. The supervisor argues that the same pallet was lifted last week, so it must be safe. Explain why that reasoning is unsound and describe the safe course of action for today, including how you would communicate it.
Read the worked answer
Past success is not evidence of margin. An overloaded truck may complete a lift and still be outside its stability envelope: dynamic forces during travel, braking, mast tilt and lowering all change the load moment, and the overload stresses mast chains, hydraulic components, tyres and brakes even when nothing visible fails. The previous lift may also have been at low height, with a different load centre, or without the sideshifter fitted. 'It worked once' is exactly the reasoning that produces tip-overs.
My course of action:
- Do not lift. Lower the forks, park the truck safely and keep the load on the floor.
- Tell the supervisor the specific numbers, not just 'it is too heavy'.
- Offer real alternatives: split the pallet into two lighter loads if the product allows, wait for the reach truck or hire a larger truck, or place the pallet on a lower beam that is rated for it and within the truck's chart.
- If pressed, escalate to the shift manager or EHS and record the refusal under the site's stop-work policy.
- Tell the customer or dispatch the realistic delay; an unsafe lift is not a service.