Forklift Practice Test: 40 Free OSHA Questions With Answers and Study Guide

OSHA's forklift rule, 29 CFR 1910.178, makes your employer responsible for training you. Training must combine formal instruction (a class, video or reading), practical training (the trainer shows you, then you practice) and an evaluation of you driving in your workplace.

Training and evaluation must be done by someone with the knowledge, training and experience to train operators and judge them. Online material can be part of the formal instruction, but the hands-on training and the evaluation happen in your workplace.

When you finish, your employer certifies it. The record names you and gives the date of your training, the date of your evaluation and who did them.

You are evaluated again at least every three years. You also get refresher training if you drive unsafely, have an accident or near miss, get a poor evaluation, are assigned a different type of truck, or the workplace changes in a way that could affect safe driving.

Federal child labor rules bar workers under 18 from driving forklifts in most jobs.

For the driving part, our forklift test guide covers the pre-use inspection and the operating check.

OSHA does not require a written test, but many employers and trainers give one, and each writes its own. They draw on the same OSHA rule and guidance, so the same facts keep showing up. These are the numbers to know.

1. Take all 40 questions in one sitting, without notes.
2. Read the reason under every answer. Each one comes from OSHA's rule or OSHA's own guidance.
3. Note the topics you missed and reread that part of this page.
4. Take the test again a day or two later.

Aim for 36 out of 40. We wrote every question here ourselves from OSHA's rule and guidance. Your trainer's test will use its own questions.

• Day 1: Take the practice test. List the topics you missed.
• Day 2: Stability: the stability triangle, load center and capacity. Read the data plate on the truck you will drive.
• Day 3: Traveling and load handling: following distance, cross aisles, ramps, picking up and setting down loads.
• Day 4: Parking, docks, trailers, fueling and battery charging. Retake the practice test.
• Day 5: Walk through the daily inspection on a real truck with your trainer.

Looking for a training program? WIOA, the federal job training law, can pay for forklift training. See how WIOA pays for forklift certification.

Start with the inspection. Your trainer may watch you check the truck before you drive it.

Look in the direction you are traveling, sound the horn at blind corners, and keep the load low and tilted back.

When you finish, park the right way: forks down, controls in neutral, power off and brake set.

Your employer certifies that you were trained and evaluated. If you change jobs, your new employer must make sure you are trained and evaluated for its trucks and its workplace, though it does not have to repeat training you already had that fits.

Looking for warehouse work? Capstone Careers shows forklift and warehouse openings near you, writes your resume for each one and fills in the long application for you to check and send. Your first application each month is free.

1. Under OSHA, what must forklift operator training include?
   Answer: Formal instruction, hands-on practice and an evaluation of you on the job. OSHA requires formal instruction, practical training and an evaluation of your performance in the workplace.
2. How often must your forklift driving be evaluated?
   Answer: At least once every three years. An evaluation is required at least once every three years, and more often when refresher training is needed.
3. Which of these means you need refresher training?
   Answer: You were seen driving unsafely or had a near miss. Refresher training is needed after unsafe driving, an accident or near miss, a poor evaluation, a new type of truck or a change in the workplace.
4. Under federal child labor law, how old must you be to drive a forklift at most jobs?
   Answer: 18. Federal child labor rules from the Department of Labor bar workers under 18 from operating forklifts in most jobs.
5. When must a forklift be checked?
   Answer: Before it is put in service, at least daily. Examine the truck before you put it in service, at least once a day, and do not use it if anything affects its safety.
6. Your check finds the forklift is not safe to drive. What do you do?
   Answer: Take it out of service and report it. A truck that is not safe must be removed from service. Only authorized people may make repairs.
7. When is a forklift considered "unattended"?
   Answer: When you are 25 feet or more away, or you cannot see it. It is unattended when you are 25 feet or more away even if you can see it, or whenever you leave it and cannot see it.
8. What must you do before you leave a forklift unattended?
   Answer: Lower the forks fully, put the controls in neutral, shut off the power and set the brake. Lower the forks all the way, neutralize the controls, shut off the power and set the brakes.
9. You must park a forklift on an incline. What else do you do?
   Answer: Block the wheels. On an incline, block the wheels as well as lowering the forks, neutralizing the controls, shutting off power and setting the brakes.
10. Can someone walk under the raised forks?
    Answer: No one may stand or walk under them, loaded or empty. No one may stand or pass under the raised forks, whether the truck is loaded or empty.
11. When can a coworker ride on a forklift?
    Answer: Only where riding is allowed and a safe place to ride is provided. Unauthorized people may not ride. Where riding is allowed, there must be a safe place to ride.
12. Where should your arms and legs be while you drive?
    Answer: Inside the truck, never between the mast uprights or outside the running lines. Keep your arms and legs inside the truck. Never put them between the mast uprights or outside the running lines.
13. How far behind another forklift should you stay?
    Answer: About three truck lengths. Keep about three truck lengths between you and the truck ahead, and keep your truck under control.
14. What do you do at a cross aisle where you cannot see around the corner?
    Answer: Slow down and sound the horn. Slow down and sound the horn at cross aisles and anywhere your view is blocked.
15. The load blocks your view to the front. How do you travel?
    Answer: In reverse with the load trailing, looking where you are going. If the load blocks your forward view, travel with the load trailing and look in the direction you are moving.
16. You drive a loaded forklift on a grade steeper than 10 percent. Where should the load be?
    Answer: Upgrade. On grades over 10 percent, drive loaded trucks with the load upgrade.
17. How do you go down a ramp with a load?
    Answer: Drive in reverse, with the load upgrade. Go up a ramp forward and come down in reverse, so the load always stays on the uphill side.
18. On any grade, how should the load be carried?
    Answer: Tilted back and raised only as far as needed to clear the ground. On grades, tilt the load back and raise it only as high as needed to clear the road surface.
19. How should you cross railroad tracks?
    Answer: Diagonally, where you can. Cross railroad tracks diagonally wherever possible.
20. How close to railroad tracks may you park a forklift?
    Answer: No closer than 8 feet from the center of the tracks. Parking closer than 8 feet from the center of railroad tracks is not allowed.
21. The floor is wet. What do you do?
    Answer: Slow down. Slow down on wet and slippery floors.
22. Before you drive into a highway truck trailer, what must be done?
    Answer: Set the trailer brakes and place wheel chocks under the rear wheels. The trailer's brakes must be set and wheel chocks placed under the rear wheels so it cannot roll while you drive in.
23. How do you use a dockboard (bridge plate)?
    Answer: Make sure it is secured, then drive over slowly without going over its rated capacity. Secure the dockboard before you drive over it, drive slowly and never exceed its rated capacity.
24. How do you take a forklift onto an elevator?
    Answer: Approach slowly and enter squarely, then put the controls in neutral, shut off the power and set the brake. Approach slowly, enter squarely once the car is level, then neutralize the controls, shut off the power and set the brakes.
25. When you turn a forklift, which part swings out?
    Answer: The rear swings to the side opposite the turn. The tail swings to the side opposite the turn. Watch for people and objects there.
26. Which loads can you lift?
    Answer: Only loads within the truck's rated capacity. Only handle loads within the rated capacity on the truck's data plate.
27. What is the "load center"?
    Answer: The distance from the face of the forks to the load's center of gravity. The load center is the distance from the face of the forks to the load's center of gravity.
28. Many forklifts are rated using which load center?
    Answer: 24 inches. Many forklifts are rated at a 24-inch load center. A load whose center of gravity sits farther out can tip the truck even if it weighs less than the rating.
29. According to the "stability triangle," when will a forklift stay upright?
    Answer: When the line through the combined center of gravity stays inside the triangle. The truck rests on three points. If the line of action of the truck and load's center of gravity stays inside that triangle, it will not tip.
30. What affects a forklift's side-to-side (lateral) stability?
    Answer: Where the load sits, how high it is, and how much the truck leans. Lateral stability depends on where the load sits on the truck, how high it is above the floor and how much the truck leans.
31. When will a forklift tip forward?
    Answer: When the load's moment is larger than the truck's moment. The truck tips forward when the load moment (weight times distance) is bigger than the vehicle moment.
32. How close should you stop when you approach a load?
    Answer: About 8 to 12 inches in front of it. Approach slowly and stop about 8 to 12 inches in front of the load, squarely, with the forks at the right height.
33. When may you raise or lower the forks?
    Answer: Only when the forklift is stopped and the brake is set. Do not raise or lower the forks unless the truck is stopped and the brake is set.
34. How far should the forks go under a load?
    Answer: All the way, until the forks are fully under the load. Slide the forks in until they are fully under the load, and center the weight between them. OSHA's guidance adds that the forks should be at least two-thirds the length of the load.
35. You are lifting a load off a stack. What is the right way?
    Answer: Lift it about 4 inches above the stack below, then tilt the mast back slightly. Lift the load about 4 inches clear, then tilt the mast back a little to rest the load against the backrest.
36. You back away from a stack with a load. How low do you bring it before you drive off?
    Answer: Until its lowest point is about 6 to 8 inches off the floor. OSHA's guidance says to lower the load until its lowest point is about 6 to 8 inches from the floor, then travel at a safe height.
37. Should you ever travel with the load tilted forward?
    Answer: No, it makes the load less stable. Never travel with the load tilted forward. It moves the load center out and makes the truck less stable.
38. What must you do before you refuel a forklift?
    Answer: Turn the engine off. Fuel tanks may not be filled while the engine is running. Clean up spills before you restart.
39. What is the rule in a battery charging area?
    Answer: No smoking, and never use an open flame to check the battery. Smoking is banned in the charging area, and open flames may never be used to check battery electrolyte or fuel levels.
40. How should you get off a forklift?
    Answer: Climb down carefully, using the handholds, without jumping. Get off carefully using the handholds. Do not jump.

• OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.178 Powered Industrial Trucks
• OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.178 Appendix A: Stability of Powered Industrial Trucks
• OSHA eTool, Operating the Forklift: Load Handling
• OSHA eTool, Operating the Forklift: Traveling and Maneuvering
• U.S. Department of Labor, What jobs are off-limits for kids?