Forklifts avoid collisions with AGVs and AMRs through three layers: separate routes where possible, fixed traffic rules where routes share space, and detection that works between the two vehicle types. Automated vehicles carry their own safety scanners that slow or stop them for obstacles, but a forklift moving fast or carrying a protruding load can enter that field too late. Fitting automated vehicles with a positioning tag or detection unit compatible with the forklift system lets drivers receive warnings and, on compatible forklifts, reduce speed in shared zones. Neither system steers the other, so right of way at shared crossings still has to be set by rule.
The full guide is AGV forklift safety, which covers ISO 3691-4 and ANSI/ITSDF B56.5, the standards for driverless trucks. Those standards focus on the automated vehicle and its operating zones; the manual forklift crossing its path is handled by the site’s traffic plan.
Map every point where manual trucks and automated vehicles meet, mark shared zones, set a lower forklift speed inside them, and decide right of way at each crossing. Ask the automation supplier whether its fleet controller can share position data and whether a forklift can trigger a stop request. Test mixed traffic during commissioning, including reversing forklifts and loads that overhang the truck.