How to Inspect a Rented Forklift or Telehandler Before You Start

You would not take a plane up without a preflight, and a lift is no different. A rented forklift or telehandler shows up with a history you never saw, and the pre-start inspection is the five minutes that catches a worn fork, a leaking hose or a missing load chart before it becomes your problem twenty feet in the air. It is expected of any operator, and it protects you if something was already wrong. Here is the walkaround and function check for these two machines, in the order you would do it.

Why the pre-start check matters

A rented lift comes with an unknown history, so a pre-start inspection is how you catch a problem before it catches you at height. You did not run it yesterday, so you have no idea what the last operator did to it or what they did not report.

A pre-operation check is standard for powered lifts, and in a workplace they are expected to be examined before use, at least daily. It also documents any damage that was already there, so it does not get pinned on you at return. Do the look-over cold first, then run the function checks with it running. Read more about what to inspect on any rented machine before you operate it, and about what happens if you damage rented equipment.

Walk around the machine

Start with a slow lap of the machine, looking for damage, leaks and anything obviously wrong before you climb on. A puddle underneath, a cracked weld, a bent guard or a missing pin tells you a lot before the key ever turns.

Look the exterior over for hydraulic or fluid leaks, on the ground and on the machine itself. Check the overhead guard and, on a forklift, the load backrest, and look over the frame and counterweight for damage. Confirm the data or capacity plate is present and legible, since a machine you cannot read the rating on is one you cannot safely load. Note anything already damaged and photograph it before you take the machine out.

Check the forks, mast and hydraulics

The lift system is where a failure hurts most, so inspect the forks, the mast or boom, the chains and the hydraulics closely. This is the part holding a load over your head, and it gets the most careful look.

Check the forks for cracks, bends, gouges and wear where the blade meets the heel, and make sure the locking pins that hold them on are in place. Look at the mast and lift chains for wear, kinks and even tension across both sides, or, on a telehandler, inspect the boom, its wear pads and its pins. Go over the hydraulic hoses, cylinders and fittings for leaks, cracks or seepage. Any of these is a stop-and-swap, because a fork or chain that fails under load gives you no warning. Read more about how to set up a telehandler for safe lifting.

Check fluids, fuel and tires

Check the fluids, the fuel or charge, and the tires, since these are the everyday items that strand a machine or make it unsafe. A lift low on hydraulic fluid or riding on a soft tire is not ready to work.

Where you can get at them, check the engine oil, coolant and hydraulic fluid levels, and confirm the fuel level or, on an electric unit, the battery charge. Look the tires over for wear and damage and confirm they are properly inflated if they are pneumatic, or in good shape if they are solid or cushion tires. Uneven or low tires throw off the stability of a machine built to lift high, so they matter more here than on something that stays on the ground.

Test the controls and safety gear

Start it up and run every function through its range before you take on a load, and confirm the safety gear works. Lift, lower, tilt, extend, steer and brake, all with nothing on the forks.

Raise and lower the mast or boom, run the tilt, and on a telehandler extend and retract, watching for movement that is jerky, slow or hesitant. Test the service brake and the parking brake and check the steering through its travel. Then confirm the horn, the lights, the backup alarm and the seatbelt all work. A control that hesitates or a brake that feels soft is a red flag to raise with the owner before you load anything, not after.

Confirm the load chart and capacity

Before you lift a thing, confirm the capacity plate is legible and, on a telehandler, that the load chart is present and readable, because that is what tells you what the machine can safely handle. No chart, no safe lift.

On a forklift, read the capacity plate for the rated capacity and the load center it assumes. On a telehandler, find the load chart and understand that the safe capacity drops as the boom extends and rises, so the number up close is not the number at reach. If the plate or the chart is missing or unreadable, do not guess at it; get it from the owner before you start. Read more about how to read a telehandler load chart, and about how to match forklift capacity to your load.

What about insurance and damage protection?

Before operating rented equipment, contact your insurance provider to ask whether your policy covers liability for heavy equipment operation on your property or job site.

Eligible rentals booked through Big Rentals also include Basic Rental Protection at checkout. This added protection can help limit your financial responsibility for certain damage or theft events during the rental period.

For full details on how Basic Rental Protection works, including deductibles, exclusions and renter responsibilities, review our FAQ and platform terms.

The Short Version

• A rented lift has an unknown history, so inspect it cold before you start and again running, and photograph any existing damage
• Walk around it for leaks, damage, a sound overhead guard and backrest, and a legible capacity plate
• Inspect the forks for cracks, wear and pins, the mast chains or boom for wear and even tension, and the hydraulics for leaks
• Check the fluids, the fuel or charge, and the tires, since low tires hurt stability on a machine that lifts high
• Run lift, tilt, extend, steer and brake with no load, and confirm the horn, lights, backup alarm and seatbelt
• Confirm the capacity plate, and on a telehandler the load chart, and get them from the owner if either is missing

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