Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and today we’re talking about a piece of equipment that almost everyone in our industry recognizes, but not everyone fully understands it. If you’re a long time listener you’ll remember I spent about 6 years operating it on the 2nd shift, in the outbound operations within the food service distribution arena.
We’re going to talk about the cherry picker today. Now its proper name, or if your ordering one from the manufacturer, it’ll be referred to as an order picker. This machine helped shape the modern warehouse, the newer e-commerce departments, and really, distribution as a whole. It’s increased productivity, allowed us to build higher racking, with many more selection slots, helping reduce the buildings footprint, reducing the cost of real-estate needed. But it’s also one of the most unforgiving pieces of equipment to operate. So today, I want to really walk through where the order picker came from, why it exists, what it’s good at, where and what it struggles with, how it’s used, and most importantly, the dangers, limitations, and responsibility that come with it. This isn’t just about the equipment. And I know I harp on it, but it’s about our mindset, maturity, and our career. And you ought to know, I’m going to take this opportunity to again stating that you should never get on or even touch a piece of equipment or machine that you have not been trained and certified to be on. Now that all that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the cherry picker!
Believe it or not, the cherry picker didn’t start in a warehouse. Its earliest versions were used in agriculture, specifically for harvesting fruit. Farmers needed a way to lift workers safely into trees so they could hand-pick produce without ladders or unsafe climbing. The concept was simple, instead of bringing the fruit down, bring the worker up. As warehousing evolved, especially in the mid-20th century, that same idea became essential indoors. Warehouses started growing up instead of out. Land became expensive. Inventory counts increased. SKU or item counts exploded. Full pallets weren’t always the answer anymore. Traditional forklifts could move pallets just fine, but they couldn’t safely lift people to pick individual cases. And that’s where the order picker was born. By combining a powered industrial truck with an elevated operator platform, warehouses could store product higher, pick individual cases efficiently, reduce walking and ladder use, and dramatically increase picking productivity.
Over time, these machines were refined with better controls, safety systems, harness requirements, and more stable designs. What we ended up with is one of the most productive, and demanding machines in the building.
The defining feature of an order picker is simple but powerful, the operator rises or goes up in the air, up to the higher pick slots with the platform and forks, with a pallet usually. And that changed everything. Instead of pulling pallets down to floor level or relying on ladders and mezzanines, the operator works directly at the pick face or pick slot.
Here’s why that matters. First, vertical access.
Order pickers allow warehouses to fully utilize high-bay racking. Space that would otherwise be wasted becomes valuable inventory real estate. Second, case-level picking. This machine is built for piece and case selection, not full pallet movement. That makes it ideal for retail, grocery, and e-commerce operations where accuracy matters as much as or more than speed. Third, productivity and accuracy. A trained operator following a clean pick path can maintain a strong cases-per-hour average while reducing errors, with less walking, less searching for the product, less backtracking. And fourth, when used properly, reduced physical strain. The machine does the lifting, not the operator. No constant ladder climbing. No unsafe stretching to reach the product. And no carrying cases long distances. But, and this is a biggie, all of those benefits only exist when the equipment is used correctly and the warehouse is layed out and slotted properly.
It needs to be said that order pickers are a specialized piece of equipment. They are not one-size-fits-all machines. They perform best in the high-bay warehouses, and narrow-aisle configurations. They require clean, dry, flat floors, and facilities with defined pick paths and in operations with high SKU and item counts.
They are common in retail distribution centers, grocery warehouses and those large e-commerce fulfillment operations. They are not ideal for outdoor use, on uneven or damaged flooring, and up front in our dock areas or congested pedestrian zones and walkways. If your facility isn’t designed for elevated picking, an order picker becomes more risk than reward.
Now we get to the part that separates training from experience. The order picker is one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment in the warehouse if misused. The biggest risk is obvious, falls from height. That’s why harnesses and are not optional and why lanyards must be properly anchored and why gates must be closed before elevation. A fall from an order picker is rarely a minor incident. It’s usually life-altering or worse.
Another major risk is stability. Order pickers are designed to lift vertically, not travel or turn at height. Sudden movements, improper positioning, or failure to fully lower before traveling can and will create serious tip-over hazards. Then there are the pinch points and struck-by hazards. Operators work inches from steel racking, the beams, and product. One moment of distraction can result in crushed fingers, head injuries, or worse. And I want to point out, one of the most common unsafe behaviors, and that is overreaching. Instead of repositioning the truck, operators may stretch just a little farther. That’s when our balance can be or is lost, and that’s when falls happen. Your machine will always win that fight.
A professional order picker operator follows a rhythm and the rules. It starts with his or her pre-shift inspection. Brakes, tires, controls, mast, chains, horn, lights, harness, and lanyard. This isent just more paperwork or a law, it’s self-preservation! Mounting the platform means three points of contact. Harness on. Lanyard secured and the gate closed and latched.
Traveling means forks down, eyes up, horn used when needed, and awareness of surroundings. When elevating, the operator is square to the rack, lifts smoothly, and keeps their body inside the platform. No leaning and no shortcuts. After the pick is completed, the platform comes all the way down before travel every time. That consistency, following the procedure is what prevents injuries.
Lets see, what else, uh, let’s talk about some of the controls. Theres several different models but most order pickers share common controls, forward and reverse travel, lift and lower, steering controls, a horn, an emergency stop, a deadman switch, and a battery indicator, and a pallet clamp or pallet grab vice. A trained operator doesn’t just know what each control does. They know to use them.
It’s important to understand that training is not optional. Operating an order picker is not a right, and it’s a lot of responsibility. Of course that proper training includes classroom instruction, demonstration of the controls and handling, a hands-on evaluation, a review of the site-specific hazards and the observation and certification. Our powered industrial truck training or PIT training. And here’s another opportunity for me to state to never, ever, get on or touch a piece of equipment or machine that you’ve not been trained or certified to be on or operate!
And remember that authorization can be removed if unsafe behavior is observed or we don’t act and operate it responsibly, and that’s not punishment, that’s our own fault and for our own good and the good of others. Because the goal isn’t speed. The goal is going home.
Here’s the bigger takeaway. The order picker rewards discipline, patience, awareness and respect for process and position.
By the way, those same traits are what make great leads, supervisors, and managers. People who master this equipment often become the people others trust because they understand the consequences. The cherry picker teaches you that rushing doesn’t save time. Shortcuts don’t make you efficient and safety isn’t a rule, it’s a responsibility.
I loved my time on the cherry picker, it is one of the most powerful tools in the warehouse and one of the most dangerous when disrespected. The difference in those two statements isn’t the machine. It’s the operator.
I always love talking about the many different pieces of equipment and the machines we use in our industry. If you have any positions or tools used in the light industry world, shoot us an email to host@warehouseandoperationsasacareer.com or post a comment on our Facebook page using @whseops, or hit us up on Instagram at waocpodcast and I’ll do my best to find us an answer! Well, I hope you enjoyed today’s episode and thanks for spending your time with us, and I’d appreciate it if you’d share the show with a friend or two! Remember to respect our equipment, to be safe at all we do, and that we have others depending on us and waiting for us to return home each day! Y’all be safe out there!
