Forklift Driver
What the work is
Operates a forklift to move bulk materials, containers, crates, palletised goods, cartons and bales.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Aligns, raises and lowers forks to stack and unstack items in warehouses, factories, timber yards and shipping terminals
- Operates forklifts on rails or using electronic guidance systems to control movement
- Transports goods to designated areas in warehouses, factories, timber yards and shipping terminals using a lift truck
- May operate a vehicle capable of lifting fully loaded shipping containers
- May operate specialised trucks to carry items beneath elevated frames
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a large cold-storage and distribution warehouse supplying supermarkets in a fictional regional city. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A full truck is loaded precisely and the pallets are stacked as straight as a wall
- A shift where every aisle is clear and everyone gets out on time
- You glide a heavy pallet into a high slot on the first try, exactly where the system said
Hard days
- A cold room where your fingers go stiff and your breath fogs the mirror
- A fast shift when everyone is pushing for speed and the aisles are crowded
- A damaged pallet that nobody wants to own
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 741331, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.