Most forklift service contracts in the UAE look similar on the front page and behave very differently on the day a truck stops working. The price per machine per year tells you almost nothing on its own. What matters is what triggers a visit, how fast someone arrives, who pays for the parts, and what happens when a repair is going to take days rather than hours.
Here is what to look for, in the order it will matter to you.
How fast does someone actually turn up
Response time is the first thing to pin down, and it is where vague wording does the most damage. “Prompt attention” is not a commitment. Ask for the response in hours, ask whether it is working hours or around the clock, and ask what happens on a Friday evening.
ARAS publishes 24/7 emergency response and routine quotations within 24 hours. Those are two separate promises and it is worth understanding the difference. The first is about a machine that has stopped. The second is about paperwork not becoming the bottleneck when you need a price for a repair before you can approve it.
Preventive work, or just repairs
A contract that only covers repairs is an insurance policy. A contract that includes scheduled servicing is a maintenance programme, and the two produce very different numbers over three years.
Preventive work is the part that quietly saves money: hydraulic checks before a seal goes, brake and mast inspections before something fails under load, battery care before a cell dies early. Ask how many planned visits are in the year, what is done at each one, and whether the schedule is set by hours run or by the calendar. A truck doing two shifts a day should not be on the same interval as one that moves four pallets a week.
ARAS runs preventive, repair and overhaul programmes and sets them against the machines you actually run rather than a standard template.
What is included, and what becomes an invoice
This is where contracts differ most. Work through the list before signing:
Parts
Are consumables included, or only labour? Wheels, seals, filters, hydraulic oil and brake components are the ones that come up. Ask specifically about the battery, because on an electric truck it is the single most expensive item and it is very often excluded.
Wear and abuse
Every contract separates fair wear from damage. That is reasonable, but the boundary should be written down rather than decided after the event. Fork damage from hitting racking is not the same as a worn mast roller.
Callouts outside the plan
Find out whether emergency visits are included in the annual figure or charged on top, and whether there is a cap.
Who carries the cost of downtime
The most useful question you can ask a service provider is simple: if this machine cannot be repaired today, what do you do? A contract that ends at “we will repair it as soon as we can” leaves the standstill entirely with you.
Here it is worth understanding a real difference between renting and owning. On an ARAS rental, servicing sits with ARAS, and where a truck cannot be repaired quickly a replacement is arranged, because the machine belongs to the supplier in the first place. A service contract on a machine you own is a different thing: it covers the repair, not a stand-in truck.
That is not a gap in the contract, it is simply what a service contract is. But if one day of downtime would genuinely stop your operation, plan for it deliberately rather than assuming. The usual answers are keeping a spare machine, agreeing short term hire cover with your supplier in advance so a truck can arrive quickly, or renting the critical machine rather than buying it.
Local parts, or a shipping lead time
A service contract is only as fast as the parts behind it. Ask where the spares are held. Parts on a shelf in Jebel Ali and parts on a boat are the same part with a three week difference attached.
The same applies to the machines themselves. A supplier who is the authorised distributor for the brand you run has a direct line to genuine parts. A general repairer may be excellent with a spanner and still be waiting on a shipment.
One price, or a moving one
A fixed annual price makes budgeting simple and puts the risk of a bad year on the supplier rather than on you. ARAS quotes servicing as a service plan with a fixed annual price, based on the machines you run and how hard they work.
If a contract is priced per visit instead, that is not automatically worse, but you should model it against a realistic year rather than a quiet one.
Is it worth it for a small fleet
For one or two light-duty machines, a contract can be more than you need, and pay as you go may work out cheaper. The calculation changes quickly once a stopped truck stops other people working. If a forklift going down means a container waits or a production line pauses, the contract is buying you the response time, not the repair.
Before you sign
Have the supplier put four things in writing: the response time in hours, the number of planned visits and what each covers, the parts that are included and the parts that are not, and what happens when a repair runs long. If all four are clear, the rest is detail.
ARAS has been servicing material handling equipment from Jebel Ali Free Zone since 1997 and covers all seven emirates. If you want a straight comparison against your current arrangement, tell us the machines you run and how hard they work, and you will get a service plan and a fixed annual price back.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a forklift service contract cost in the UAE?
It depends on the machines, the hours they run and the response time you need, so it is quoted per fleet rather than from a list. ARAS provides a service plan with a fixed annual price once you share what you run and how hard it works.
What is the difference between a service contract and a warranty?
A warranty covers defects for a set period after purchase. A service contract covers scheduled maintenance and repairs during normal use, including wear items a warranty would exclude.
Does a service contract include the battery on an electric forklift?
Very often it does not, and it is the most expensive single item on the machine. Ask for the battery to be addressed specifically rather than assumed.
How quickly does ARAS respond to a breakdown?
ARAS publishes 24/7 emergency response, with routine quotations provided within 24 hours.
Do you service forklifts across the UAE?
Yes. ARAS Developments FZE is based in Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai and covers all seven emirates.
