A counterbalance truck has worse visibility than almost any road vehicle. The mast and carriage sit in front of the operator, the overhead guard pillars block the corners, and a load on the forks can hide everything ahead below about two metres. The counterweight and the engine cover hide the ground behind. Add a sideways-seated reach truck or a telehandler with a boom, and it gets worse.
Know where you cannot see
- Directly ahead, low down, when carrying a load. A child, a crouching worker or a low obstacle is invisible.
- The front corners, hidden by the mast channels and guard pillars. Exactly where a pedestrian steps out of an aisle.
- Directly behind, below counterweight height. A pallet on the floor, a kerb, a person bending down.
- Above, when placing at height. Sprinkler pipes, lights and the top of the racking.
Working around it
- If the load blocks the view ahead, drive in reverse. Turn in the seat and look over your shoulder for the whole manoeuvre, not just the start of it.
- Stop at every aisle end, doorway and crossing. Edge forward until you can see both ways.
- Use mirrors as an aid, never as a substitute for looking. Convex mirrors shrink and distort what they show.
- Keep the mast channels, the windscreen (if fitted) and the mirrors clean.
- Use a banksman when reversing in areas where people may be present and the view is restricted.
The horn
The horn is a warning to others that a truck is coming. It does not give the truck priority and it does not mean the operator can carry on without looking. Sound it before every corner, doorway and crossing, before reversing, and whenever someone ahead has not seen the truck. Then slow down and be ready to stop. On sites where horns are sounded constantly and nobody reacts, the horn has stopped working as a warning; the answer is better segregation, not louder horns.