Load Assessment, Handling and Load Charts
This domain tests load control before the wheels move: weight, centre of gravity, load centre, attachment effects and the capacity chart. The exam rewards candidates who calculate rather than guess.
Core rules
- Establish weight: use shipping documents, labels or a weighbridge. If weight is unknown, do not guess; have it weighed.
- Establish load centre: the load’s CG must be known or estimated. A load that is deep, offset or unstable may have a CG further from the fork face than assumed.
- Read the data plate and chart: capacity is stated at a specific load centre and lift height. Attachments, extended forks and special carriages reduce capacity.
- Load moment: compare actual weight × actual load centre with the rated load moment. Keep the combined CG inside the stability triangle.
- Load integrity: use sound pallets, band or shrink-wrap unstable loads, and do not lift double-stacked loads unless the truck and load are rated for it.
Worked example
A truck is rated 2,000 kg at 600 mm load centre. A pallet’s CG is 900 mm from the fork face and weighs 1,500 kg. Rated moment = 2,000 × 600 = 1,200,000 kg·mm. Actual moment = 1,500 × 900 = 1,350,000 kg·mm. Actual exceeds rated, so the load is unsafe. Derated capacity at 900 mm is about 1,333 kg, below 1,500 kg. Split the load or use a larger truck.
Traps
- Checking only the weight and ignoring load centre.
- Assuming maximum capacity applies at full lift height.
- Forgetting attachment weight and forward shift.
- Lifting an off-centre load without allowing for lateral moment.
- Using a damaged pallet because the load itself is within capacity.