A Day in the Life Of: Fork Lift Technician, Dave from Pennsylvania

He Fixes the Things that Move Stuff.

Since he was young, David P., 27 of Sweet Valley, Pa. loved to tinker with things. It's no surprise that after a string of trade and production jobs the handy man landed a job as a forklift technician.

People sometimes take for granted where stuff comes from. But David knows. Day in and day out, he visits logistic centers, warehouses and other storage centers. Some of these are in freezers and some measure in at a over a million-square feet; all are filled with 'stuff' waiting to be shipped to stores. Forklifts and high tech lift trucks help stock, store, load and unload the things we need in every day life.

Meet David:

Current job
Forklift technician for a dealership of a major forklift brand.

Length at current job
Three years.

Tell me a little about your position and what you do on a day-to-day basis.
Well, my position is to go to a customer's location and repair any breakdowns on their forklifts. If my day doesn't consist of breakdowns, we have a scheduled maintenance list where you service client equipment for preventative maintenance. Also, when a customer gets new equipment, we have to install it.

Soon as I roll into town, I call the dispatch to see if there are breakdowns. If not, I do maintenance.

What are your customers like? What type of people do you serve?
Most of our customers are warehouses and distributions centers-people who have to move material around warehouses. Some examples are frozen food warehouses, clothing warehouses, candy distributors, etc.

Generally, they're fair as long as you get there in a timely fashion. There are a few that no matter what you do, you cannot please.

Who are your coworkers, meaning what type of people do you work with? Are you in a team environment? Do you work independently?
We have seven guys in our territory, with one lead tech. We work independently, but we also work as a team to accomplish our goals. Sometimes we work together. We really communicate to make a smooth operation.