Forklift Repair Service

Best Forklift Repair Service & Forklift Mechanic Cost near Iowa City
Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City

Looking for emergency forklift repair service in Iowa City? Call Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City forklift repair, servicing all makes and models of lift trucks. Mobile service, fast turnaround. We provide the best forklift service, forklift maintenance, and forklift repairs near Iowa City. Cost? Free estimates. Call today or send us a message!

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DEPENDABLE IOWA CITY FORKLIFT REPAIR FORKLIFT MECHANIC & TRACTOR SERVICE

Regular Maintenance Keeps Your Forklifts and Tractors Operational

Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City has an experienced team of factory-trained and certified forklift and tractor technicians that can repair and service your forklifts and tractors to achieve lower maintenance costs – All makes and models. Call us today for fast and friendly service. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City has been in operation since 2018 and has the best service in town!

Our Mobile Forklift Service Team helps customers in IOWA CITY. We can evaluate and recommend solutions for your equipment for all makes and models. With the knowledge and the experience of our staff, we can assist you in making the best and most logical decision for your company when costly repairs arise.

Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City is the most trusted forklift, lift truck and tractor service provider in Iowa City.

On-Site Planned Forklift Maintenance

  • Factory-trained forklift technicians
  • Factory-trained tractor technicians
  • Over 50 technicians
  • Fast, same-day response — under 4 hours
  • 24-hour service with weekends and holidays available
  • Regularly scheduled planned maintenance programs
  • Fleet management portal for easy access to your equipment repair costs
  • Tires replaced on-site
  • Battery watering service and repairs
  • Discounted forklift rentals available on major repair jobs

Whether your equipment needs monthly checkups or quarterly appointments, our forklift and tractor service team is second-to-none! We provide service for a single piece of equipment or for your entire fleet!

After-Hours Response

If your operation works more than one shift unexpected breakdowns can occur at odd hours. Understanding that downtime is lost time, we offer 24/7 emergency repair service in all our markets. Simply call us.

FORKLIFT SERVICE BY MOBILE AUTO TRUCK REPAIR IOWA CITY

When it comes to servicing forklifts and all types of other material handling equipment Iowa City, nobody compares to Iowa City Forklift Repair.  As your ONE SOURCE for forklift service, parts, rentals and much more we realize you have choices and we would certain appreciate the opportunity to earn your business.  We are more than ready to handle your needs.

  • Need a Forklift Inspection?
  • Need a Forklift PM Service?
  • Need a Forklift Tune-up?
  • Need Forklift Tire (Drive & Steer Tire, Load Wheel, Drive Wheel, Caster Wheel) Service?
  • Need a Forklift Safety Inspection?
  • Need a Forklift Battery Inspection?
  • We are the company to call!

Our Feature Article: The 10 Things You Need to Know About Planned Maintenance

Not only has Iowa City trusted us for over 30 years, but we also maintain standing service contract relationships with the City of Iowa City Agencies, and Public Utility Contracts.

  • Our 24 Hour Emergency Service means you can count on us at all hours to keep your forklift fleet moving and productive.
  • Our Planned Maintenance Agreements take all the hassle out of ensuring your forklifts are being maintained according to your standards. Avoid costly breakdowns and lost productivity by allowing us to manage your ongoing forklift fleet maintenance. This leaves you to doing what you do best and lets us do what we do best….servicing your lift equipment!
  • Full Maintenance Agreements allows you to budget your forklift maintenance with ease. This simple agreements set a monthly cost allowing you to know what your lift equipment maintenance costs are going to be today, tomorrow and next year!
  • Our Full Maintenance customers enjoy the convenience and advantage of FREE Utilization and Costing Reports that allow them to see what equipment they’re using most, least, and which lift trucks need to be replaced. And it allows them to better forecast their lift equipment needs which takes the guess-work out of planning and budgeting.
  • Don’t let your forklift batteries and chargers die prematurely. You have spent thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars for these expensive products and you want to get the most out of them with by allowing the pros at Iowa City Forklift Repair to service and repair your lift truck batteries and chargers!
  • Thinking of retirement? Let Iowa City Forklift Repairs re-tire your forklifts with our mobile forklift tire pressing unit. Stocked with the most popular sizes, we take out all the inconvenience and keep your lift trucks making you money!
  • Is your facility safe? Are you using the right equipment for each job in your facility? Are there processes that could allow you to combine equipment or delete obsolete or low-use lift equipment? Call Iowa City Forklift Repairs for our Safety Equipment Inspection or Application Survey and be sure!
  • Hydraulic hoses come is many types, sizes and configurations. Iowa City Forklift Repair has hydraulic hoses for every forklift brand, size, capacity.  If a hose does not need replacing, but has been damaged we may be able to repair it.  Give us a call!
  • As you can see, Iowa City Forklift Repair is much more than a company that supplies simple forfklift and lift equipment service. We are a true partner in making sure your facility is operating at peak efficiency. Give us a call the next time you need service of your forklifts or lift truck equipment.  You will be glad you did!  Iowa City Forklift Repair, YOUR ONE SOURCE for forklift and lift equipment service on IOWA CITY.

FORKLIFT REPAIR | IOWA CITY

Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City is a Iowa City forklift repair service for all makes and models of lift trucks.

We are backed by one of the largest parts departments in IA.

Call us today!

If you have a high volume storage facility, losing just one lift truck during a shift because of mechanical failure can result in considerable losses in productivity. Incapacitated equipment may also incur latent costs. As an example, you may have an inactive or underutilized operator while your equipment is out-of-service, you may suffer damage to your credibility because of overdue consignments, and you may have to pay overtime to make up for lost time once your fork truck is restored to duty.

While proper truck maintenance does stop most unanticipated truck mechanical failures, at times they are unavoidable.

In situations where you need a lift truck back in service as soon as possible, you don’t have the option to be idle for a full day, or even more than four hours . Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City has an on-site interval of right around two hours and we maintain the quickest average dispatch time of any service operation in many regions of Iowa City. We can dispatch a technician at a moment’s notice from any of our branches throughout the West.

To get the job done right the first time, our squads of highly trained, authorized technicians are supplied with thoroughly equipped service trucks that have all the tools and parts they need. Other service providers can take twenty-four hours or more to arrive at your facility, diagnose a mechanical problem and repair a vehicle. Our specialists can often achieve the same thing inside of just a few hours of your service request.

Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City has more than 4,000 parts in stock and more than 100,000 part numbers available for all manufacturers and models of forklifts. We supply parts for most major brands and feature one of the most comprehensive parts departments in Southern Iowa City.

Scheduled Forklift Service

Regular maintenance of your trucks is crucial when you want to maximize your uptime and efficiency. To help you prevent equipment problems, our programmed service agreement includes routine examination and service of your lift trucks. You get all of the crucial inspections and service required for your forklifts from Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City squad of highly qualified specialists . For operational efficiency, you can keep your fork trucks working when you need them and schedule service during off-peak periods based on your own schedule.

Comprehensive Forklift Maintenance

For one fixed monthly rate, our total forklift maintenance plan incorporates all scheduled maintenance, labor and parts. The benefit is that beyond preventative planned maintenance, all parts and labor for mechanical failures are covered as well. An all inclusive plan is typically less than having skilled maintenance workers, and the predetermined monthly charge makes budgeting simple and uniform. Despite the fact that all inclusive terms cost more than planned maintenance, they can be a wise choice for highly utilized fleets, particularly for multiple shift facilities and high throughput distribution centers.

Forklift Repair Near Me – Iowa City

Call Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City today to get more information on forklift service or maintenance plans, or to request equipment repair service. You can speak with a Iowa City representative.

FORKLIFT EQUIPMENT REPAIR IOWA CITY

Forklift services for repair, rental and transportation

Our experienced forklift service techs get the job done right the first time

Powered industrial trucks may become hazardous if maintenance is neglected and repairs or adjustments are not performed. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City strongly recommends that all powered industrial trucks have maintenance and inspections performed regularly.

For nearly 10 years, Iowa City businesses have turned to Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City to provide forklift service, forklift maintenance, and forklift repairs, in addition to our forklift rental service. Our customers have relied on our service expertise to keep their products moving.

Successful forklift service and forklift maintenance require three things.

You must have competent forklift service technicians. With a large staff of experienced in house and radio dispatched, mobile fork lift service technicians, Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City is capable of repairing or maintaining any kind of forklift, no matter what size the job is. Whether it be brand new or twenty years old, or whether your forklift is electric, diesel, or LP, our skilled service technicians can repair your forklift.

You must have a competent and responsive fork lift parts process. Correctly sourcing forklift parts can be very challenging. Having served this industry for nearly 30 years, Mobile Auto Truck Repair Iowa City has developed strong working relationships with our industry’s parts suppliers that allows us to get parts quick and at reasonable prices.

Certainly the most important factor in our success, is customer service. We have worked hard over the years at developing a team that can deal with what our customers need. Our highly trained and focused customer service professionals can respond quickly and Iowa City Forklift Repair  to any and all of your fork lift service needs.

Are you in need of a forklift preventive maintenance program?

We have hundreds of customers forklifts that we successfully maintain, keeping their down time to a minimum and their operating costs at a minimum. Some of the common items that we can address:

  • Tune Ups
  • Engine Rebuild
  • Battery Evaluation
  • Fuel System Rebuild
  • Hydraulic Line Repair
  • Brake Jobs
  • Wheels & Tires
  • Belts & Hardware
  • Fluid Leaks
  • Diagnosis & Troubleshooting

 

Do you need a forklift service technician to visit your location to fix your forklift?

We have a fleet of technicians to get to your door, usually within the same business day. Our service trucks are stocked with the most common required items to handle the repair onsite. However if your forklift repair is significant enough that it needs to come to our shop for repair, we have a dedicated flat bed to pick up and return your forklift when the repairs are complete. We also have a fleet of electric forklift and gas forklift rentals to offer you while your forklift is being repaired.

HOW MUCH FORKLIFT REPAIR COST IN IOWA CITY?

How much does it cost to service a forklift?

The annual maintenance costs for an electric forklift are approximately one-third of what it costs to maintain a similar internal combustion (IC) forklift. For example, a single-shift operation might spend $500 per year to maintain their electric lift truck versus $1500 per year for a diesel or LP forklift.

How often does a forklift need to be serviced?

every 90 days

The more you use your forklift, the more often you should have it serviced by a factory trained technician. A forklift that gets heavy use might require a forklift maintenance visit every 90 days. Be sure to keep a copy of the items inspected on file in case OSHA requests that information.

How often should you change oil in a forklift?

every 250 hours

Forklifts items that should be serviced every 250 hours: a fuel filter. oil change and filter.

4 EXPENSIVE FORKLIFT REPAIRS AND HOW TO PREVENT THEM

Forklifts and other material handling equipment are rugged machines, built to work hard, but they’re not invincible. All too often we end up doing expensive repairs on equipment that could have been avoided had the machine been properly maintained.

Your equipment is an investment and proper maintenance will help you maximize its value. Many problems start out small; catch them early and avoid a big pain in your checkbook. Wait too long and it’s going to cost you: time, labor, and productivity.

But you can benefit from the mistakes of others. Below are a few recent examples – from real IOWA CITY customers – of four expensive repairs that could have been prevented.

Cutting corners can be very costly. Some of the most common preventable reasons that result in calls for repair include:

– Fluid levels that are not regularly checked

– Batteries that have not been maintained (lack of water being the most common issue)

– Tires damaged by rough floors or debris on the site

An Aging Forklift Needs Extra Attention

One of our customers had an older fleet and no planned maintenance. While you’d never want to neglect a forklift, newer lift trucks can handle it a little better than old ones. With older machines, there’s a higher chance of failure if you don’t change the oil on time.

The repair bill was over $4200 after forklift mechanics had to rebuild the engine head assembly (including the cooling system). Also, the operation was without a forklift for three weeks. Regular oil changes and scheduled maintenance could have prevented this.

Regulator Inspections Can Prevent Costly Radiator Replacement

Another customer without a service plan had a forklift breakdown and needed to replace the forklift’s radiator, air filter, fuel filter and have a tuneup. The cost was $2700 (the radiator by itself was $1600) and the forklift was offline for three days. If this customer had a forklift technician inspecting their equipment regularly, the radiator could have been repaired instead of replaced. Replacing a bad hose for $30 can save thousands.

Electric Equipment Needs Maintenance Too

We also sell and service small electric utility vehicles like golf carts and personnel carriers. Unfortunately, one customer neglected to do any maintenance on his vehicle. Yes, it’s true, electric vehicles need service too.

In this instance, the brakes failed. Lack of maintenance caused damage to the brake drum, calipers, and cables. The repair bill was $1500 for an electric cart that cost $10,000. Ouch! Luckily there wasn’t any property damage.

The moral of the story is: do your due diligence and have electric vehicles inspected every couple of months. Though we’ve talked about brakes, the biggest concern is the batteries. If your electric forklift won’t hold a charge, don’t wait. Call a professional to evaluate the battery’s condition.

Your Forklift Talks to You – Do You Know What It’s Saying?

When a forklift technician inspects your machine, they do more than just check the fluids. They look for early signs of trouble: is the lift forklift making unusual noises? Are the brakes soft, etc. One of our customers called us recently because their forklift would only go forward, it wouldn’t turn. The steering had gone completely out. Though it seemed to occur out of the blue, this problem happened gradually, but no one one recognized the signs.

The best way to maximize your equipment investment is through planned maintenance.  Have a professional inspect it regularly and perform recommended maintenance – on a schedule that works best for your operation. Forklift technicians are highly-trained professionals with a sixth sense for forklifts. Let them be your eyes and ears – and help save you money on repairs.

 

FORKLIFT MAINTENANCE 101

In an effort to earn the trust and the business of customers and potential customers we offer a series of articles designed to share some of the important things we’ve learned.

We’ve been in the forklift truck business for more than thirty-five years and we have learned a lot. One of the key things we’ve discovered is that the more a customer knows about forklift trucks the better we can serve them. Customers that are savvy and understand all the aspects and nuances of the business are our best customers. We have also learned that exceptional customer service makes all the difference in the world to our customers. So, to serve you better, we’ve produced a series of articles aimed at arming end users of forklift trucks with the knowledge they need to become educated consumers. And as one local retailer we used to know always said “an educated consumer is our best customer”.

If you load or unload tractor trailer trucks or railcars or move product in your warehouse or plant, at some point you’ve had to call a forklift service company for repairs or maintenance. If you’re a 3rd Party Logistics Company, manufacturing plant, food processor or product distribution center then you’ve probably had to call them a lot. In some cases, forklift costs may be in the top 10 highest expenses on your P&L. If you’re like a lot of people we’ve met, the issues of forklift maintenance, if not being properly performed, can really ruin your day. Here’s a synopsis of some of the things we’ve learned over the thirty-five plus years we’ve been doing this:

  1. Comparing labor rates doesn’t tell you much.

The fact is, the labor rate is only one factor in an equation where most of the other factors are subjective. If company A has a $100.00 per hour labor rate and company B has a $125.00 per hour labor rate, most people would say company A is cheaper by 20%. That might be true, if you also had a hard and fast objective standard for how long it should take a technician to do a specific job. If company B sends out a highly skilled and motivated technician to diagnose and repair a problem and he does it in 2 hours, but the company A technician takes 3 or 4 hours to do the same job, who is cheaper? There are an infinite number of ever-changing subjective variables in this exercise such as; how much sleep did the technician get? Did they have to leave to pick up parts? What sort of physical condition are they in? How long did it take them to enter and exit the warehouse? It goes on and on. Hourly rate is often the only measure customers use to evaluate and choose between companies. Suffice to say that the simplest and most widely-used comparison to distinguish between forklift service companies, hourly rate only shows you one small piece of the puzzle.

  1. Everybody pays for travel:

To take the above example a little further, what our salespeople often run into is the objection“the other guy’s labor rate is lower than your rate and they don’t charge me for travel.” It’s a nice thought. But again, “a pig in a poke,” so to speak. The most expensive thing a forklift technician does is drive to a job. He’s wearing out tires, using fuel, depreciating the value of his vehicle, creating insurance exposure, paying tolls and getting paid a technician’s wage for doing a driver’s job, while producing no income. Regardless of whether stated or not, you’re paying for travel. It’s in there somewhere. So, if you have a lower labor rate with a company that doesn’t charge travel charges and you still can’t figure out why your maintenance costs are so high, then maybe you need a company with a labor rate that tells you right up front, we charge for travel. Remember, you will pay for the travel one way or another. It is best to have every cost shown to you upfront and honest.

  1. You don’t have to call the OEM to get your forklift fixed.

We’ve been hearing this one for over thirty-five years. We walk into a customer location and they continue to tell us “Oh no, we have to use the dealer. They said that they are the only ones who can service this, or it voids the warranty.” or “No one is allowed to access their software. We don’t have the passwords and codes” or some permutation of the two. This of course is untrue. Neither Forklift manufacturers nor their dealers can compel you to use them for service. Often when a service customer of ours gets new forklifts, that we are not an OEM dealer for, they are more comfortable with us triaging the repairs and letting them know if something should be covered under warranty. Manufacturers warranties are limited to defects in workmanship during the manufacturing process and warranty repairs that do not significantly impact maintenance costs to end users over the life of the machine. It is illegal for forklift dealers to lock you out or refuse to give you software codes or passwords for forklift trucks you’ve purchased, unless you’ve signed an agreement that specifically states this.

  1. If you’re only considering the purchase price when you buy, you’re only considering half the cost.

Over the life of a forklift truck, the total maintenance cost is spread out and will generally be pretty close to the initial purchase price of the truck. A $25,000 forklift with a useful life of 7 years, will use 15,000 hours over that term, assuming a high cycle operation (using 2,000+ hours per year). That machine depreciated to zero over the term. This depreciation adds up to about 1.66 per hour or a little less if the machine has some salvage or scrap value at the end of term. Most users cycle at 10,000 hours and 5 years.But the costs work out in the same range. That’s at least the cost of maintenance on a per hour basis for a high cycle operation. 1.66 is probably low by a dollar or more. Likewise, this does not include fuel or power consumption. That’s why picking the right service provider is so important. Even simple things like propane system maintenance, improperly done or not done in a timely manner, can have enormous costs over five to seven years, even in a small fleet. This is due to both downtime AND fuel consumption. For electric forklift users, this is analogous to battery maintenance. Having a service company that takes the time to evaluate all the aspects of your operation and perform maintenance in an efficient and timely manner can save substantial sums over the life of fleet. Likewise, downtime generates real costs. Think of it this way, you don’t really pay for forklifts, you pay for the USE of those forklifts. Any downtime, even an hour, results in a loss. You are not producing income while a forklift is sitting there unused. And this is increasing your costs. It’s a double whammy. Service companies that habitually respond late or poorly to service calls and always seem to need to order more parts or just leave machines down for days and weeks on end, can really cost you. Carefully consider the forklift trucks you need before you buy. Don’t forget that the quality of the service you receive once you actually start using them can have as much if not more impact on total costs then the purchase price of the machine.

At Iowa City Forklift Repair we’ve always operated on the principal that the value of forklift trucks is differentiated by the quality of the organization that supports and maintains that truck. Iowa City Forklift Repair is a service-centric organization and we deliver value by delivering products that are wrapped in the value of our service. When it comes to maintenance, our product is a skilled technician that arrives on time in a van fully stocked with the tools, parts and other items required to keep your forklifts running efficiently. That technician is provided with a high level of back office support, a critical component of our value equation. This ensures timely parts delivery, rental truck support when trucks are down or unexpected needs arise. It also ensures you can get data on costs, expert advice on things like warehouse configuration and rack design, product flow or any number of things that only an organization that has years of experience in all aspects of materials handling, can provide. If forklift maintenance issues are giving you headaches, give us a call, we can help.

Service Area

  • Coralville Forklift Repair Service
  • Hills Forklift Repair Service
  • Iowa City Forklift Repair Service
  • Johnson County Forklift Repair Service
  • Kalona Forklift Repair Service
  • Lone Tree Forklift Repair Service
  • North Liberty Forklift Repair Service
  • Oxford Forklift Repair Service
  • Riverside Forklift Repair Service
  • Solon Forklift Repair Service
  • Swisher Forklift Repair Service
  • Tiffin Forklift Repair Service
  • University Heights Forklift Repair Service
  • West Branch Forklift Repair Service
  • West Liberty Forklift Repair Service

BEST FORKLIFT REPAIR SERVICE IN IOWA CITY

MOBILE AUTO TRUCK REPAIR IOWA CITY

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