Why We're Moving Our Forklift Fleet Toward Electric

By Tim Zabransky, Director of Operations 

Forklifts are probably not something most of our customers spend much time thinking about, and that's probably how it should be. You come into one of our yards because you need material, you need it loaded properly, and you need to get back to the job. What powers the forklift shouldn't matter to you, unless that forklift isn't working when you need it. 

That's exactly why we've spent the last few years deciding whether to change how ours are powered. 

Why Propane Has Been the Standard 

For a long time, propane has simply been the standard for us. Turkstra operates 35 forklifts across our branches, yards, and production facilities, and historically that fleet has been propane. There are good reasons for that. Propane forklifts are proven, they can handle the work, and when the tank is empty you can swap it and keep going. 

We have wanted our indoor forklifts to be electric for quite some time. Running combustion equipment inside means dealing with the exhaust it produces. We would rather have cleaner air around our operators, and there is also the simple matter of keeping our products cleaner. Exhaust and residue eventually settle somewhere, and lumber sitting in a warehouse doesn't need any help getting dirty. 

The problem was never whether we liked the idea of electric equipment indoors. We needed an electric forklift we could trust.

Why We Waited Five Years to Make the Switch 

We looked at electric forklifts about five years ago and decided they weren't ready for what we needed them to do. Battery technology, charging times, cold-weather performance, and overall reliability didn't give us enough confidence to start changing the fleet. 

When we decided to take another look at electric forklifts, there was some skepticism across our teams. I understood where this skepticism came from. Older electric equipment earned some of that reputation. People remember batteries that needed constant attention, long charging periods, chargers that ran hot, poor runtime, and trouble in colder weather. As we began trials across the company, one of the things I found myself saying repeatedly to our managers and forklift operators was, "Everything you think you know about electric forklifts is ten years old." 

The technology had moved considerably faster than our perception of it. Battery performance, charging, and the equipment itself had reached a point where we felt it was finally reliable enough for the work we do, including the cold-weather conditions typical of a Southern Ontario winter. 

What the Numbers Actually Showed Us 

Once we were comfortable that the equipment could do the job, we went back through three years of our forklift maintenance history, reviewed what we were actually spending to operate the propane fleet, and compared that with what we could reasonably expect from modern electric equipment. I'm not particularly interested in a sales brochure telling me how much money something is going to save us. I want to know what our own experience says. 

Our maintenance data from 2023 through 2026 showed the propane fleet was costing us considerably more per unit each year, both in repairs, service costs, and fuel, than modern electric equipment would. Electric equipment came out well ahead on both counts, largely because there's no internal combustion engine, fuel system, or exhaust system to maintain. 

Over a full 15-year service life, that gap adds up to a meaningful difference per unit, and it holds up even before factoring in any current government incentives for electric equipment. Electric had become a legitimate option for a lot of the work we do, and the long-term economics made sense on their own. 

We're Not Retiring the Propane Fleet Overnight 

We're not replacing every propane forklift we own overnight. A machine that is running well and still has useful life left doesn't suddenly become a bad forklift because we found a better option for the next purchase. We use 15 years as a planning benchmark when we review equipment replacement. Some of our older machines have certainly exceeded that, but modern equipment isn't necessarily built the same way equipment was 20 or 30 years ago, so 15 years gives us a reasonable point to plan around. 

We're looking to transition roughly four forklifts a year as machines come due, which lines up with our normal replacement cycle rather than requiring a large upfront capital shift. As each one reaches that point, we'll look at the work it's doing and decide what machine belongs there next. If propane is still the better choice for a particular job, especially heavy-duty outdoor work, we'll use propane. This isn't about checking a box or being able to say we have an electric fleet. The equipment still has to be effective in its role. 

What Changes for Our Operators, and for Our Customers 

One of the things I like most about the electric machines is how much simpler they are for the people using and maintaining them. A propane forklift has an internal combustion engine, fuel system, exhaust system, and a lot more mechanical components that can eventually become a failure point. Electric removes a good portion of that. You still have hydraulics, tires, mast components, and routine greasing to take care of, but there are fewer fluids, filters, and engine-related systems to maintain. Every component you can remove is one less thing that can leak, wear out, or put the machine out of service. 

There are also benefits that don't show up in a financial analysis. The machines are quieter. In a busy yard, that matters. If someone is calling an operator over the radio to help a customer, there's a much better chance that request gets heard the first time. Inside our buildings, we're also not running an exhaust-producing engine beside people who are working there all day. 

None of this changes what the customer expects from us. They want their material to be there, they want the order to be right, and they want to get loaded and get back to work. What changes is our ability to deliver that consistently. Anybody who runs a business knows how quickly one small problem can spread. A forklift goes down and somebody gets pulled off another job to deal with it, loads start backing up, and eventually customers start waiting. We're never going to eliminate every breakdown, but reducing failure points and making the equipment our people use every day more dependable helps keep those problems from becoming somebody else's problem. 

Come See the Difference for Yourself 

We've been around for over 70 years, and sometimes the way we've been doing something for a long time is still the right way. There's nothing wrong with that. But sometimes technology catches up, and it's worth a second look. Five years ago, we looked at electric forklifts and weren't convinced. This time we were. 

If you run a shop, warehouse, or yard yourself and you're wondering whether an electric forklift might make sense for your operation, feel free to stop by and have a look at ours. Talk to the operators who actually use them. Ask what they like, what they don't like, and what they've noticed compared with propane. They'll probably give you a more useful answer than a sales brochure will. 

And hopefully you don't leave with just a little more knowledge about forklifts, but maybe some lumber too.