Since its introduction in the early 1920s, the lift truck has become an important piece of equipment found in many industrial operations and warehousing. Clark, amongst the pioneers of the first lift truck, has grown to become a leader within the material handling business and still remains a top supplier. Other well-known names in the making of these machinery comprise: Yale, Hyster, Nissan Mitsubishi, Cat and Toyota.
The Hyster type of lift truck has become one of the industries most popular manufacturers. As a matter of fact, in some regions, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Other common names for this industrial lifting equipment consist of: fork truck, stacker truck, jitney, high/low and lift truck.
The ancestor of today's equipment was initially made during the early part of the 19th century. At this time, small, battery-powered units were made for the purpose of moving traveler's baggage at the Altoona train station in Pennsylvania. During the First World War, several different kinds were developed within England specially for use in the material handling industry. These equipment evolved as a solution to the manpower shortage at that time.
Today's machinery come in numerous configurations and sizes. Sod loaders are big truck-mounted forklift models and several of the bigger machines, whilst the smaller equipment consist of hand truck models. There are also a line of automated versions referred to as forklift automated guided vehicles that are basically robotic in nature. These models were developed to improve production and as a means of lowering operational expenses.
A regular lift truck is able to utilize a wide array of attachments which are capable of being added for a variety of particular functions. The motors could be internal combustion or IC units, running on gasoline, propane or diesel, or there are battery operated options that need regular charging. Standard warehouse models would usually be rated to raise between roughly 1 and 5 tons.
The lift truck has become a priceless part within the material handling business. Thousands of these models are utilized on a daily basis all around the globe to complete jobs that used to require a lot more man-power. Operators must take stringent training programs so as to legally and safely run these heavy machines. Numerous employees have better overall health and longer careers now due to their not having to raise objects by hand anymore because the forklifts are capable of handling those situations now instead.