Easy does it

It seems we all need to do more these days than what our job description entails. At the newspaper, I’ve been helping out on the forklift. We use a lift to pull pallets of newspaper inserts off of delivery trucks. Under the patient tutelage of Matt our operations guy, I’ve become accustomed to using the machine. The trickiest part was the tight turning radius and the fact it turns from the rear wheels.

During my first training runs, Matt set up a slalom course of empty wooden pallets. I did fine going forward, it was reverse that I had a little trouble with.

Forks can be dangerous. When I worked at a winery in Napa I heard many a horror tale of accidents and close calls that came with lazy, rushed or incompetent forklift operators. Probably one of my favorites was the story of the disgruntled lift operator who was fired, then sneaked back onto the winery late at night. He took a forklift and rammed a 100,000 gallon wine tank, piercing it. By the time the first employees got on site in the morning the tank was empty. (Check out this forklift accident, watch the operator just manager to escape in time.)

I’m happy I gained the experience of operating a forklift and I’m glad I can help out a bit at the newspaper. (One of the paper’s photographers, Jen, snapped these photos of me. Check out her blog, New Vintage Photography, it’s in my link section.)

Get it lower, that load should be at minimum ground clearance.