Reach Truck training in London
The high-bay warehouse truck. Straddle legs for stability and a mast that reaches into the racking, so the truck can work aisles a counterbalance could never turn in.
Photo: Reach truck.jpg by Yiddophile, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
About reach trucks
London floor space is the most expensive in the country, so London warehouses go up rather than out, and the truck that works a racked aisle at height is a reach truck. The big distribution parks around the M25 and the A13, Dagenham Dock, Thurrock, Enfield's Brimsdown and Innova Park, Heathrow's cargo villages and the Prologis parks at Park Royal and Dartford all run them in numbers, and so do thousands of smaller units. It is an electric, sit-on (occasionally stand-in) machine built for racked storage. Two straddle legs run forward under the load for stability, and either a moving mast or a scissor pantograph pushes the forks into the racking and pulls them back. The chassis stays in the aisle, so the aisle can be far narrower than a counterbalance needs.
Height is the other advantage. Lifts of 10 to 13 metres are routine, and modern trucks come with tilting cabs, height pre-selectors and mast cameras to help the operator see what the forks are doing far above their head. Judging fork position at height, and placing a pallet cleanly on a beam you can barely see, is the core skill the course develops. In a London multi-tenant warehouse where the racking may be shared and the aisles are busy with pedestrians, that precision matters even more.
Operators sit sideways to the direction of travel, steering with one hand and working the hydraulics with the other, which takes a day or two to feel natural. The course also deals with the limited view over the straddle legs, the discipline of never travelling with a raised load, and the realities of cold-store work, where gloves and condensation change how the controls feel.
What the course covers
- Pre-use checks including straddle legs, reach carriage, mast chains and battery
- The sideways seating position, steering and control layout
- Reach and retract technique into and out of racking
- Placing and retrieving pallets at full working height
- Aisle discipline, pedestrian segregation and racking damage reporting
- Battery changing or charging, parking and shutdown
On site, on your truck, anywhere in London
We bring an accredited instructor to your premises in any London borough or surrounding town. You provide the truck and a safe working area; we provide the theory material, test papers and the HSE-recognised certificate. Novice Forklift Training, Semi-Experienced Forklift Training, Refresher Forklift Training, Conversion Forklift Training are all available for this truck.
Other truck categories
Counterbalance Forklift, Double Deep Reach Truck, 4-Way (Multi-Directional) Reach Truck, VNA Truck (Man-Up and Man-Down), Bendi and Flexi (Articulated) Forklift, Pivot Steer Truck, Powered Pallet Truck, Pedestrian Stacker Truck, Telehandler (Telescopic Handler), Order Picker (Low, Medium and High Level), Rough Terrain (Masted) Counterbalance, Side Loader.
Reach Truck training questions
Can a counterbalance driver use a reach truck?
Not without training. They are different categories of lift truck with different controls, visibility and stability, so each needs its own certificate. An experienced counterbalance operator can usually convert to reach in a single day.
What height will the training go to?
To the top beam of your racking and the maximum lift of your truck. Candidates stack and de-stack at full height before they take the test.
Do you cover double-deep and four-way reach trucks?
Yes, both have their own pages and their own certificate. We treat them separately because the extended pantograph and the rotating wheels each change how the truck behaves.
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