The forklift market isn’t rejecting automation — it’s asking for a bridge
Our Forklift and Pallet Handling Voice of Market study is a twice-yearly quantitative + qualitative study of more than 300 executives and facility managers involved in making forklift and pallet handling buying decisions across multiple facility types and company sizes. The inaugural edition was published in April 2026.
Buyers are more bullish than OEMs about automation
Our research into the forklift industry is two-pronged: we interview and survey both the producers of forklifts, and also the end buyers. One surprising result from our recent Voice of Market survey was a clear divergence in sentiment: suppliers remain cautious about uptake, while buyers are actively planning automation investment.
For context, automated forklifts remain a tiny fraction of the overall forklift market with manual trucks still dwarfing shipments of AGVs and AMRs. This coupled with cautious attitudes stemming from accumulated headwinds (supply chain disruptions, component shortages, rising logistics costs, and ongoing macroeconomic & geopolitical uncertainty), has led to bearish sentiment from suppliers regarding the future pace of automating forklifts.
This same sentiment, however, does not appear to be shared by buyers. Our Voice of Market survey revealed that despite obvious challenges, buyers expressed automation investment intent driven by ever-increasing labor issues coupled with maturing forklift and pallet handling technologies. Our Forklift and Pallet Handling Voice of Market service showed two thirds of forklift buyers were expecting an increase in automation CapEx over the next twelve months.
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This confirms that demand is not the constraint. The challenge is translating intent into deployable solutions. The question is no longer ‘are buyers seeking automation in their forklift operations?’ but rather ‘how do I convert that intent into automation in today’s complex operating environments?’
Lack of capable staff is a major problem, but risk averse operations aren’t ready for full autonomy
At first glance, automation appears to directly solve customers’ labor constraints. However, adoption has been slower than expected. More than one in four respondents named forklifts as the top problem technology. The biggest barriers preventing customers from investing in more forklifts are the lack of capable drivers, the capital costs involved, and the complexity behind integrating them into current operations, especially as they begin to consider a transition to automated forklifts.
How can manufacturers work with buyers to bridge this gap?
As discussed previously, decision-makers rank facility automation as their top priority. However, the lack of capable staff and high cost associated with autonomy make outright purchase untenable. There are also complex operational requirements that make full autonomy difficult to accept in high-pace environments.
The head of operations for a global pharmaceutical company summarized it succinctly:
“Automated fork trucks are really slow, and everyone you discuss this with has different approaches to how the system works. It’s either safe and very slow, or fast but you can’t have people around. That’s exactly our problem – we normally work with fork trucks where people are around. Making automated forklifts work in real life still has many unanswered questions.”
While fully autonomous fork trucks may be out of the question for many buyers at this stage, the desire for increased autonomy should not be ignored. Until the operational complexities surrounding full autonomy are completely ironed out, suppliers should emphasize entry point assistive “Light autonomy” features which are easier to implement. Examples include operator collision avoidance, speed zoning and load stability monitoring, which can deliver immediate ROI while lowering the skill threshold for forklift operators.
The bridge: assistive autonomy + flexible deployment models
“Light Autonomy” may be the answer in the short to mid-term, but it still requires a risk averse customer base to be willing to trial these features before adoption happens broadly. Additionally, this approach still fails to address the significantly higher cost associated with utilizing an automated or semi-automated forklift.
What’s missing is not demand or technology, it’s a viable deployment model. To this end, leasing models could be a potential solution.
Upon probing forklift buyers during in-depth interviews, one interviewee emphasized the value of leasing models clearly when they said:
“Forklift providers could offer more value through flexible leasing or rental models. For example, they could supply equipment for a defined period, charge a rental fee, and handle full maintenance. Our demand can spike three to four times for short periods, sometimes just 10 days. We typically keep two forklifts permanently, but rent an additional three to four during peak periods. If suppliers also provide operators, it works very well.
For high-reach forklifts , operator skill and safety are critical – any mistake could lead to a serious or even fatal accident. While many vendors have training academies, sourcing trained operators separately is difficult for us. An integrated offering – equipment plus trained operators, delivered through a flexible rental or leasing model – would be a game changer.”
Against this backdrop, leasing programs may have an opportunity to solve multiple customer problems. They provide greater flexibility to operations in times of peak demand, offer a proving ground to a risk averse customer base for autonomous features, and afford customers a viable economic model for deployment.
As forklift suppliers look to drive greater acceptance of autonomous or semi-autonomous solutions, leasing programs offer a strategic pathway into operations, enabling suppliers to introduce autonomous features, reduce customer risk, and accelerate adoption. In doing so, they provide the practical bridge to autonomy that the market is clearly asking for.
To learn more about our forklift market research, or our Voice of Market offering, contact Monica or Maya directly.
