Powered Industrial Truck and Forklift Operator Training Equipment Simplified
Distribution Center and Warehouse Safety Require Time, Space, Labor and Data
Forklift operation presents different kinds of hazards. A quick search on warehouse heavy machinery incident stats shows us the importance of proper training. Materials handling with these two to five ton steeds is the highest of high-stakes regarding safety.
Powered industrial truck training is also costly. The costs are endless: fuel, labor hours paid at the manager wage level. Plus, the more time a machine is used for a training program, the less time it spends retrieving stock, more wear and tear, more work orders to fix it, and more downtime.
It doesn’t need to be this way.
While Virtual Reality (VR) is known for gaming and interacting with others in a new way, it’s finding its way into distribution centers around the world – and not for product fulfillment.
VR forklift training is proving to be the safest and most impactful form of training for warehouse workers. Here’s how…
Safety First and Safety Fast; Machine-Free, Streamlined, Cost-Efficient Forklift Operator Training
For forklift drivers, the cognitive-concentration load needed for careful stacking and retrieving of goods is always balanced with necessary situational awareness (SA). That balancing act, according to a study involving three international technical schools, is where most of the accidents happen. What if those situations requiring SA were presented in a zero-contact, machine-free setting?
If more forklifts are retrieving goods instead of being tied up with some training requirement, that’s more product moved. Keeping more machines running is possible.
Forklift operator training means the learner may be getting on the forklift for the first time. If you train on-site at your warehouse, that could mean first-timer-level wear and tear. Even if you sub out your training, just how much trust do you have for the trainer? On-site training with ZERO maintenance work orders.
Volume and Speed
The warehouse, freight and logistics sector focus on efficiency. Money is made through speed and volume. Saving time and money are such a big deal that some overseas freight concerns are cutting corners. Even the engineering of standup forklifts is designed for volume: it takes less space to turn around. That means the warehouse can squeeze in another aisle of shelving.
As indicated, warehousing is a volume industry. It means hustle. PIT Trainer XR is designed to prep trainees. And it’s designed to prep trainees at scale, keeping with that volume mindset of the warehouse.
Trainees can practice the fundamentals of forklift operations and repeat exercises in a controlled virtual environment as many times as they need without disrupting production.
OSHA and How This Training Helps
If you’ve ever had to run forklift training, you probably know the drill—get someone certified, cross your fingers they got the right guidance, and hope there’s no near miss on the floor that sends you scrambling for a refresher course. Sound familiar?
That’s why we built PIT Trainer XR—to help close that gap between certification and actual confidence on the floor. It doesn’t hand out certificates (we’ll leave that to OSHA), but it does get operators ready to pass with flying colors. Even more importantly, it helps them stay sharp after the ink on their cert has dried.
One early user from our beta program shared that their trainers used to rely on a simple paper checklist—one trainer’s opinion on whether someone was “ready.” Not exactly foolproof, right?
With our trainer, you don’t have to guess. You’ve got real metrics—gaze tracking to see where they’re looking, collision tracking, course times, and more. You know exactly how each person is doing, where they need work, and when they’re ready.
These Are the Rules
29 CFR 1910.178(l) lists the requirements for OSHA certification but what if you could do better? Eliminate the need for remedial training after a “near miss.” Reduce warehouse incidents and the costly, time-consuming followup. Here’s just one way Roundtable’s program helps with that:
→ Situational Awareness: the PIT Trainer XR has a gaze tracking feature that records where they’re looking, ensuring the user keeps their eye on the ball
Got a great training program already? What if there was a perfect gamified version to let your seasoned pros prep for OSHA’s mandatory three-year refresher?
For uncertified forklift operator hires, this program will get them ready for every piece of the practical component including load manipulation, narrow aisles; it also includes full navigation exercises: forward and backward, figure 8, oval. An operations manager from Roundtable’s early beta version of PIT Trainer XR noted that all these practical, kinetic navigations were essential for his team’s training. But more importantly, this leader with a Fortune 10 retailer said it was the metrics that made the difference. “Data is uber-important,” he said.
Distribution Center and Warehouse Safety Require Time, Space, Labor and Data;
Save All Four with Roundtable Learning’s Stand Up Forklift Program
We get it—warehouses run on speed and volume. Every second a forklift is in training is a second it’s not moving product. And training someone from scratch? That can eat up time, space, and people. A lot of companies just don’t have that kind of slack in the system.
That’s where the PIT Trainer XR really starts to shine. It gives learners the freedom to make mistakes safely—without the wear and tear, without burning fuel, and without risking downtime. And it gives managers confidence that their team’s actually ready before they ever step foot on the warehouse floor.
We’ve packed all the essentials into a compact, all-in-one VR training rig that you can set up in a corner of the breakroom. It’s got full forklift control simulation, real-world warehouse scenarios, and built-in performance tracking powered by Mercury XRS.
Learning, the Safest Way Possible: XR Forklift Operator Training (Tiller Included)
We didn’t stumble into forklift training. We built it from the ground up—just like we’ve done with every learning solution over the past two decades.
Roundtable Learning has always believed that training should meet employees where they are. Whether that’s on the warehouse floor or in a breakroom with a tabletop VR rig, our goal is the same: make learning stick, make it scalable, and make it measurable.
From our early days developing custom eLearning when it was still considered cutting-edge, to now creating immersive XR training programs for Fortune 10 retailers, we’ve never stopped evolving. Our team includes instructional designers, software developers, 3D artists, and learning consultants who work together to solve real training challenges—not just sell you tech.
We know warehouses. We know what it takes to train a high-turnover workforce safely and efficiently. And we’ve got the scars (and the success stories) to prove it. PIT Trainer XR is just the latest example of our commitment to building smart, effective tools that actually work in the environments they’re made for.
If you’re ready to rethink forklift training—from the ground up—we’ve got the experience, the gear, and the data to back it up. Let’s talk.
Let's see how we can help
We’ve been helping businesses build better training programs for over 20 years—and we’re just getting started. If you’ve got a challenge, we’d love to help you solve it. Let’s see what we can do together.