Here we go again, banging on the same drum as to why Armstrongs forklift course are in some cases a whole day longer than any of the course offered by our competition. So how do we justify the extra time and the extra cost?

Well, we’re not even going to try and present a case. The Defence rests Your Honour. BUT…what we will do is take some time to point out some facts that you might be interested in and some questions that you might want to ask when your shopping around for a forklift licence.

1. Forklift training – which belongs to that group of licences collectively known as “high risk” licensing is tightly regulated by WorkSafe. Forklift licensing is included in the ‘high risk’ category of workplace licensing because it involves high risk!
2. Forklift training providers aren’t free to just rope off a corner and call themselves a ‘forklift training provider.’ WorkSafe dictates under what conditions forklift training must be carried out. For example, training must be conducted in an area of at least 400sqm. So how did that guy you know get his forklift licence by just driving around in circles a couple of times in a small area down the back of warehouse? We don’t know, you tell us!
3. Before you even sit in a forklift, over 5 hours needs to be set aside for your assessments – 2 hours for your driving/operating assessment, 2 hours (plus 15 minutes reading time) for your theory test, and 1 hour (plus 15 minutes reading time) for your calculations test. Of course, not everyone who goes for their forklift licence will need that much time, but the point is, that much time must be set aside by the training provider.
4. WorkSafe have very clear directives as to what you can and can’t do when on course – specifically what you can’t do if you are not under direct supervision. So, entertaining yourself on a forklift whilst your trainer is with other students whilst they do their theory test is not on.
5. If you’re thinking about going with one of our competitors (how could you !?!) you might want to ask whether your “2 day beginners course” starts with your theory test because if it does then you’ll want to study hard – real hard. It’s NOT a multiple choice test, it’s a full question and written answer test and there are a LOT of questions. If the course you are thinking about enrolling in doesn’t include a trainer going through the information with you before your test then don’t be surprised when you find out that you failed…and that you need to take a retest – not now – but at a later date for say somewhere around the $100 to $150 mark. Ouch. Everyone loves to start a course with a ‘fail’ right? Puts you in such a good headspace for your next round of testing.
6. Next you might want to ask when the calculations test will be conducted. If it’s conducted straight after the theory test then…need I say more? But don’t worry, you can always come back for a retest – not now – but at a later date for say somewhere around the $100 to $150 mark. Ouch. Again! At this point your two for three.

In this hypothetical situation (it’s not so hypothetical believe you me!), you have paid about $400-$450 for your 2 day beginner course, but you’ll need to potentially pay at least another $200 for retesting – on the basis that you don’t fail again – and be inconvenienced again by having to set aside another day to come back. So your 2 day beginners course for $400-$450 has become a 3 days beginner course for $600-$650 and double the inconvenience. See where we are going with this?

If you’re thinking there must be a less stressful way to go about it, then you’re right. I mean, why else are you torturing yourself by reading this?

 At Armstrongs, your 3 day beginners course looks like this:

• Learning support to ensure you understand all the theory. You’ll be shown videos and slides to help with your understanding, but most importantly an Armstrongs trainer will be go through all the study information making sure you don’t miss any of the key concepts and that you understand everything you need to know. This applies to both the theory test and the calculations test. Additional cost to you for this personalised service is $0.00.
• In the event that you are not successful on your first attempt at the theory or calculations test (or both), you can sit your retest straight away! C’mon, how good is that? Additional cost to you $0.00.
• In the event that you are unsuccessful on your practical assessment (but this is not the difficult part for most students), you can sit your retest – you guessed it – straight away. Additional cost to you $0.00.
• It gets better. In the event that you are unsuccessful on your practical test a second time or our trainer thinks that you could do with some additional training then you still have the Armstrongs Training Guarantee up your sleeve. An additional 2 hours and retest. Additional cost to you $0.00.

For all you highly motivated and studious beginners out there, you might not NEED any or most of this extra value – but what you might WANT is the piece mind that Armstrongs has practically guaranteed that you’ll have your forklift licence at the end of your course. Think of it like health insurance. You moan and groan for years about paying for something you’ve never had to use, but are relieved to hear that the bill for the whole body scan using the latest thermo-bobby-nuclear powered-scanning machine and the three Professors it takes to work it is covered by your insurance premium that you moaned and groaned about.

But for all the guys and girls out there whose idea of a good time isn’t studying then not only do you WANT to do your forklift training at Armstrongs, but you NEED to do your forklift training at Armstrongs.

We’ve always known why some of our competitor’s prices are so cheap (compared to ours), and now you know. If you like the thought of twice the stress, twice the cost, and twice the inconvenience, then we wish you all the best.

However, if you’re looking for a fixed price stress free experience then check out our forklift course page and then give the team a call.