I agree to a point, the wages in the forklift game have stagnated, i was quite surprised when i looked at what companies were offering, even for forklift management jobs, there seems to be an image problem where the forklift world is seen as a bit player and experience and knowledge are classed on a different level.
Hence why i'm going back into commercial / industrial maintenance sector, as the wages are around £10k more, the only hope to make money in the forklift game, is to stick with the main dealers and progress through the ranks (if you so wish) into service management or sales etc.