Pallet Truck Shop, the UK’s largest supplier of pallet trucks, stackers and table trucks, has issued a warning to warehouses and distribution centres about what it calls the “February Failure Spike” – a surge in pallet truck and manual handling equipment breakdowns typically seen in the weeks following the pre-Christmas and January sales peak.
According to the company, many warehouses choose to defer essential equipment maintenance during the busiest trading periods, prioritising throughput over repairs. While understandable, this seasonal pattern results in a backlog of worn components, fatigued hydraulics and damaged wheels that only become apparent once operations return to a steadier pace in February and March.
Pallet Truck Shop said the pattern is so consistent across the industry that businesses should now treat early-year failures as predictable – and preventable. Phil Chesworth, Managing Director at Pallet Truck Shop, urged warehouse operators not to wait until equipment fails on the floor before acting.
“We see it every single year,” he said. “Teams push their handling equipment hard through November, December and into January, and any niggles or minor faults are often ignored because the priority is simply keeping stock moving. Then, come February, everything catches up at once. Wheels crack, hydraulics drop, forks warp… and suddenly a warehouse is dealing with avoidable downtime.”
Chesworth says that the aftermath of peak season is the ideal time for businesses to carry out thorough checks rather than assuming equipment will simply ‘recover’ after being intensively used.
“A quick inspection of hydraulics, wheels and forks now can stop an unexpected breakdown next month,” he continued. “These failures aren’t bad luck: they’re the result of small issues that were allowed to grow. Addressing them early is safer for staff and far more cost-effective for the business.”
Even minor deterioration can significantly impact performance. Slight wheel flattening can make loads harder to manoeuvre and increase strain on staff, while sluggish hydraulics can cause unpredictable lifting behaviour. In the worst cases, fork damage can result in unsafe load handling or load drops.
With many warehouses only recently returning to normal staffing levels after the holiday surge, Pallet Truck Shop is encouraging managers to schedule preventative maintenance and replace worn equipment before the February failure window takes hold.