2025 Lift Truck User Survey: Key trends in fleet management, acquisition and electric truck adoption

In most Modern Materials Handling stories, we talk about equipment, technology and their application. But only occasionally do you have a chance to compare your management of that equipment and technology to those of your peers.

This month, we’re doing just that with our annual survey about lift truck usage and acquisition.

The five key takeaways from the survey are:

• Average age of trucks in fleets is steady at 8 to 9 years.
• More than 50% of trucks are leased.
• Additions to fleets, compared to truck replacements, account for just less than 50% of acquisition activity.
• The economy still has a firm grip on lift truck purchase decisions, however;
• Lift truck expenditures are projected to be more than 50% higher this year than in 2023. And 64% of respondents plan to buy or lease lift trucks in the next 24 months.

That last point could also be taken to mean a majority of respondents have a positive outlook on the economy for the next couple of years. Not necessarily that scientific an approach, but we can hope.

Overall, this year’s survey shows a fairly steady hand in managing lift trucks and fleets. No big swings but some notable shifts.

At least that’s according to the nearly 150 Modern Materials Handling subscribers who responded. The e-survey was conducted by Modern’s sister organization, Peerless Research Group, in May. The margin of error is a very respectable 6.9%.

Now for the details.

Big picture

Let there be no doubt, respondents use a range of trucks to manage the movement of goods within the four walls. The chart summarizes the six most common types of trucks used.

In 2025, Class 1 and Class 3 trucks account for at least 50% of trucks in a given facility. Electric-powered riders (Class 1) is slightly more widely used at 54%. But electric-powered pallet trucks isn’t far behind at 50%.

The latter is especially notable because in 2023 those Class 3 trucks accounted for 35% of trucks, according to our survey.

Grouped in the mid-30% range are Class 2, 4 and 5 trucks. Meanwhile, Class 6 electric- and internal combustion-powered trucks come in at 8%.

That said, the average fleet size is steadily increasing. As the chart shows, average fleet size has gone from 18 trucks in 2023, to 20 trucks last year and 23 trucks right now.

To bring that to a finer point, the largest percentage of respondents, 36% this year, have three to nine trucks in their fleet. And 24% of respondents have just one or two. At the other end, 12% operate fleets with 100 or more trucks.

Which brings us to: How long does the average truck remain in a fleet? The survey shows the range over the past three years is fairly tight—ranging from 7.2 years in 2024 to 8.2 in 2023. This year, that number is in the middle at 7.9 years.

By the way, a notable number of companies hold onto equipment for 10 years or more. But the number of companies holding onto trucks that long (some even a bit longer) is rapidly coming down, falling from 39% in 2023 to 27% last year and this.

Now for the real outliers. Survey respondents say the age of the oldest trucks in a fleet can be as long as 16 years. That’s actually a two-year increase since 2023. But remember, these truly are the outliers given the average age of about 8 years.

Many operations effectively operate two fleets—a core fleet and a less-utilized reserve fleet. Interestingly, there’s a shift going on here, too.

In 2025, 51% say they have a core fleet. That’s a high point. Last year, the number was 41%, slightly down from 43% in 2023.

Then there’s the matter of what respondents do with trucks that have outlived their usefulness. According to our survey, respondents have a variety of approaches.

Roughly 40% either resell trucks or rely on the dealer to take them when new trucks are delivered.

Until this year, a little more than 30% actually hold onto trucks and move into “just in case” mode. However, that practice dropped this year to 24%.

Another variation on that practice is those who hold onto trucks and cannibalize them for in-house repairs. The percentage of respondents who do that sits firmly in the mid-teens percentage wise.

Buying and leasing action

The two primary reasons for buying or leasing new trucks are replacement or addition to the fleet.

The survey shows that right now 53% of buy/lease activity is replacement. And, 47% is an addition to the fleet.

Then there’s the matter of buy/lease or both.

The buy side this year is at 46% with the balance, 54%, leased. That’s a slight high point for leasing and a similar low point for buying in the past three years. Meanwhile, 28% combined purchase and lease options, a notable 10 percentage point increase since 2023.

That said, watchyagonnado in the next 24 months?

Sixty-four percent of respondents plan to buy/lease new trucks in that time period. And the average number of trucks needed is expected to be 6.4. OK, there’s no such thing as a fractional truck, but these are survey results. See the chart on page 40 for details.

Then the survey focused in on the next 12 months, see chart on this page. Those spending plans are the strongest they’ve been in a while.

In 2025, respondents plan an average expenditure of $214,000. That’s a 53% increase since 2023 plans were surveyed.

We also asked about interest in buying autonomous and/or semi-autonomous forklift technology. And, a resoundingly 81% (to be precise) of respondents don’t care. Furthermore, that number has not changed in three years.

As a side note, that is especially interesting given the challenges of finding labor these days. Anyone disagree? In fact, there is hardly a single Modern story that doesn’t have a “lack of labor” theme (stated or implied) in it these days. Stay tuned. It seems unlikely this trend will not change.

The buying process

As you already strongly suspect, 86% of expenditures go through the dealer channel. Less than 15% are direct from manufacturers.

While channels are well set, factors for buying or not buying are wide ranging. The list ranges from strength of the business to expansion plans to age of trucks in the fleet, to name three.

But the gorilla in the room, of course, is the economy.

As the chart on page 40 shows, the economy does have an impact. No surprise there.

In fact, the economy affects buying “to a great extent” or “to some extent” 62% of the time. As one respondent said, “it is much easier to invest when the company is doing well.”

Only 38% don’t pay much, if any, attention to the economy. And as one other person said: “If I have to have one, I have to get it.”

Still another twist came from someone else. “Good economy, purchase new ones. Bad economy, purchase used ones.” You probably have your own variation on these themes.

So, what are the factors that most affect the respondents’ buying decisions? We had no trouble coming up with 15 possibilities. They range from purchase price (most important) to breadth of lift truck features (least important).

As the chart shows, the top five are:

1. Purchase price,
2. Quality of lift trucks and parts,
3. Safety,
4. Cost to run the truck over its life time, and
5. Service response time.

By the way, the top three are critical considerations more than 50% of the time. That has been the case since 2023.

With trucks out on the floor and running, what replacement parts are respondents most likely shopping for in the next 12 months?

• Wheels and tires,
• Batteries and battery accessories,
• Chemicals, lubricants and oil,
• Tune-up parts, and
• Brake components.

And despite the number of times horns are ringing in your ears during the day, horns did not make the list.

Up and running

In terms of taking care of the fleet, we have two categories: servicing and maintaining trucks as well as training operators.

As to the former, 52% now outsource maintenance to lift truck dealers. That number continues to climb incrementally each year.

Meanwhile, in-house staff is the preference only 26% of the time, a declining option. That’s parallel to a decline to just 17% of those who outsource maintenance to non-dealer contractors.

Regardless of who is doing the work, there is a steady interest in collecting data with fleet management software. In 2025, 47% use it.

The top five points of interest are:

1. Maintenance history,
2. Safety (injuries, accidents),
3. Cost to maintain,
4. Age of trucks, and
5. Cost to operate (fuel to operator training).

By the way, 96% of fleet management software users say their efforts are extremely, very or somewhat successful. Might be something to look into for next year.

Clearly, the respondents prefer to train operators in-house. This year, 75% of respondents do so, a slight decline from 80% last year. Dealers and independent trainers split the balance of training duties.

There you have it. Our lift truck fleet management update in real time. How does your operation measure up?