Can Forklifts Operate on Public Roads?
2 Answers
Forklifts with proper licenses are permitted to operate on public roads, but safety precautions must be observed due to their powerful engines. According to the relevant provisions of the Road Traffic Safety Law, wheeled vehicles engaged in specialized engineering operations are classified as motor vehicles. As motor vehicles, they must display license plates when operating on roads. Relevant information about forklifts is as follows: 1. Introduction: Loaders are widely used earth-moving machinery for construction projects such as highways, railways, buildings, hydropower stations, ports, and mines. 2. Functions: They are mainly used for shoveling and loading loose materials like soil, sand, limestone, and coal, and can also perform light excavation work on ores and hard soil. By equipping different auxiliary working devices, they can also be used for bulldozing, lifting, and handling other materials such as timber.
My family runs a machinery rental company, and we see all kinds of forklifts coming and going every day. Strictly speaking, these count as special equipment and really shouldn’t be driven on public roads casually. If you insist on driving one and get caught, it’s considered unlicensed driving. Once, our construction team was in a hurry to relocate, and a forklift driver secretly drove it on the road—only to get heavily fined. Now we always use trailers to transport forklifts; spending 200 yuan per trip on a flatbed truck is worth it. Remember, moving slowly over a short distance of a few hundred meters from one construction site to another might be okay, but if you encounter traffic police at an intersection, they’ll definitely stop you. If you really must move it, remember to get a temporary license and report it.
