A truck mounted forklift, the piggyback machine that rides on the back of a flatbed and drops off at the delivery, is a monthly hire almost everywhere rather than a day rate. Expect roughly $1,200 to $2,500 a month for a common 2,500 to 5,500 lb unit. It is bought as a delivery method rather than as a yard machine, and the mounting kit on the truck matters as much as the forklift does.
The kit on the truck is half the job
A piggyback needs a rated mounting frame on the flatbed or trailer, and the truck has to have payload left over to carry it. Yards that hire these ask about the vehicle first. Fitting a mount is a workshop job with its own lead time, so a same week hire normally means a truck already fitted for one.
What it lifts, and where it puts it
Capacity is quoted at a load centre like any forklift, and the rated figure falls away quickly as the mast reaches out or up. Three wheel drive models cross a soft verge or a churned site entrance, which is the entire point: the load reaches the building rather than being left at the kerb.
Why the hire period is long
These machines are hired against a delivery contract, a season or a construction programme, so yards price them monthly and usually set a minimum term. A single delivery is nearly always cheaper served by a lorry mounted crane, a yard forklift at each end, or a machine already standing on the site.
The rules that travel with it
It is a powered industrial truck while it is working and part of the vehicle while it is travelling, and both sets of duties apply. The employer trains and authorises whoever operates it; mounting, load security and lighting sit with the vehicle. Hire agreements normally leave maintenance with the yard.
Questions people ask about truck mounted forklift
How much does a truck mounted forklift weigh?
Common three wheel units run roughly 4,000 to 6,000 pounds, and that weight comes straight off the truck's payload. Work it out before booking, because a fully loaded flatbed carrying a piggyback is exactly where axle limits get broken.
Can I rent one for a week?
Some yards will, at a rate that makes the month look cheap, and availability is thin because the fleet is small. If the need is genuinely short, ask what it costs to have the yard's own machine and driver meet the load instead.
Do I need a CDL to run one?
Operating the forklift is a training and authorisation question under the powered industrial truck rules, not a driving licence one. Driving the truck it rides on is a separate matter and depends on the vehicle's weight rating and what it is carrying.