The state of the economy has limited influence on purchases. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

More than half of forklift users in the US are planning to buy new equipment in the next 12 to 24 months.

In its annual Lift Truck Acquisition & Usage Study, Modern Materials Handling found that 62% of users are planning new equipment purchases: 58% of those will replace existing trucks and 42% of acquisitions will be additions to their fleets.

According to the survey, in 2017, 59% will spend less than USD50,000 on lift trucks compared to 47% in 2016. A further 16% of readers (down from last year's 22%) plan to spend USD50,000 to USD99,999. A similar percentage aims to spend USD100,000 to USD249,999, down from 19% last year. Additionally, 5% of respondents this year, compared to 8% last year, are in the USD250,000 to USD499,999 category, while only 3% plan to spend more than USD500,000.

Researchers found that the state of the economy has limited influence on purchases, affecting only 25% of decisions "to a great extent".

Looking at current equipment, the survey found nearly 65% of fleets include electric-powered rider trucks. These Class 1 trucks include counterbalance, sit-down and stand-up types. The next largest category is Class 3 electric-powered walkies, riders, low- and high-lift and reach types. They are in half of all fleets.

The size of these fleets ranges from three trucks or fewer to more than 100. The former accounts for 19% of fleets and the latter for 5%. The largest single grouping is fleets with three to nine trucks, accounting for 32% of respondents.

Other findings indicated that buying is still prevalent, far outstripping leasing. Purchasing accounts for 79% of acquisitions while 21% are leasing.