Forklift Maintenance Software With an Audit Trail
Schedule services by run hours, put annual inspections on autopilot, and keep a dated maintenance history for every truck: the record a safety auditor, insurer, or WorkSafe inspector actually asks to see.
No credit card required. No GPS or telematics hardware.
Forklifts Are the Most Audited Machine in the Building
When a workplace safety audit happens, the forklift is where inspectors look first: it's the machine most likely to hurt someone, and the one with the clearest expectations around maintenance. In Australia, AS 2359 and regulator guidance set the pattern, daily pre-start checks by operators, planned maintenance on hours, and a comprehensive periodic inspection. Similar planned-maintenance expectations apply in most jurisdictions worldwide.
The gap in most small operations isn't intent; it's evidence. The truck gets serviced when the dealer rings, the pre-start checklist lives on a clipboard, and when an auditor asks 'show me this truck's maintenance history', there's nothing to hand over. A missed inspection also has a direct cost: a truck that fails under load means an incident report at best.
MaintainLog closes the gap with one log per truck: hour-based service schedules, a recurring annual inspection, and a completed-work-order history with dates and notes you can produce on the spot.
Electric, LPG, and Diesel Trucks Wear Differently
An electric truck's maintenance revolves around the battery (watering, terminal condition, charger checks) plus hydraulics, chains, and brakes. An LPG or diesel truck adds engine servicing on run hours: oil, filters, coolant, and fuel-system checks. Mixed fleets are where spreadsheets fall apart, because no single interval fits every truck.
In MaintainLog each truck carries its own schedules: a 250-hour engine service on the LPG truck, a monthly battery service on the electric reach truck, and chain-wear and mast inspections on both. Work orders are generated per truck, so the right service happens on the right machine.
Typical Forklift Service Intervals
A representative planned-maintenance pattern for counterbalance forklifts. Follow your OEM manual and local regulator guidance for the machine in front of you:
| Service task | Typical interval | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Operator pre-start check | Daily / each shift | Brakes, forks, chains, tyres, horn, lights |
| Engine oil & filter (IC trucks) | Every 250 hours | LPG and diesel; include air filter check |
| Battery service (electric trucks) | Monthly | Watering, terminals, charger lead condition |
| Hydraulic filter & brake inspection | Every 500 hours | Include mast rollers and carriage |
| Load chain wear measurement | Every 500–1,000 hours | Replace at 3% elongation, measure, don't guess |
| Hydraulic oil change | Every 1,000–2,000 hours | OEM-dependent |
| Comprehensive periodic inspection | Annually | Per AS 2359 guidance in Australia; keep the report against the truck |
Intervals are typical industry figures. Always follow the service schedule in your OEM manual. In MaintainLog you set the exact interval per machine.
How It Works
Get started in 3 simple steps
Add Your Assets
Register your vehicles, machinery, and equipment. Include serial numbers, models, and current readings.
Set Maintenance Schedules
Create schedules by time (days, weeks, months) or usage (hours, miles, kilometers).
Get Reminders & Complete Work
Receive email alerts when maintenance is due. Mark work orders complete and keep a full history.
No GPS Hardware Required
No expensive hardware to buy or install. Works with any device.
No Telematics
No monthly hardware fees. Just simple, manual tracking.
2-Minute Setup
Add your first asset and schedule in under 2 minutes.
Works on Any Device
Use it on desktop, tablet, or phone. No app download required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a legal forklift inspection interval in Australia?
There's no single national expiry date, but WHS regulations require plant to be maintained and inspected per the manufacturer's recommendations, and AS 2359 with regulator guidance establishes daily operator checks, planned maintenance, and periodic comprehensive inspections as the expected pattern. What matters in an audit is showing a planned regime and the records behind it.
Can operators without accounts report issues from pre-start checks?
The cleanest pattern is to give each supervisor or leading hand a login. Paid plans include unlimited users at a flat price, so there's no per-seat cost. Defects found at pre-start get logged as notes against the truck, and the service schedules carry the planned work.
We have a mixed fleet: electric, LPG, and diesel. Does that work?
Yes, and it's the main reason to move off a spreadsheet. Each truck has its own set of schedules: hour-based engine services for IC trucks, calendar-based battery servicing for electrics, and shared schedules like chain measurement or annual inspections on every truck. Nothing is forced into one interval.
Does the service history help at resale or end of lease?
Substantially. A forklift with a dated, complete service history, including chain measurements and inspection reports, is a documented machine, and dealers price it accordingly. At end of lease, the history is also your defence against wear-and-tear disputes.