Evaluate Jobsite Conditions
Evaluate Jobsite Conditions
This domain tests whether you can survey the site before positioning the telehandler. The exam focuses on ground support, slope, hazards, and people.
Ground and slope
- Verify soil bearing and compaction. Avoid uncompacted fill, trench edges, utility covers, and curbs that can collapse.
- Use the manufacturer slope limit and the machine level indicator. Avoid side slopes; travel grades with the load uphill and boom retracted unless the manual says otherwise.
- Check for underground utilities and excavations; barricade weak areas.
Overhead and area hazards
- Identify power lines and maintain the required approach distance; call the utility if clearance is unclear. Use a spotter.
- Control pedestrians with barricades, exclusion zones, and a signal person.
- Account for wind, lightning, rain, ice, and visibility.
Worked example
A travel path crosses a soft patch 10 ft from a trench. The load is within the chart at the final position. Reasoning: chart capacity assumes a firm, level surface. The soft patch and trench edge reduce support and can cause tip-over. Relocate the path, compact or mat the ground, and keep back from the edge.
Traps
- Checking overhead lines but not underground utilities.
- Treating the slope limit as a target rather than a maximum.
- Trusting visual ground appearance without checking fill or trench edges.
- Ignoring wind on a raised boom or large sail area load.