The lift truck has become such an important piece of equipment found and utilized in most warehousing and industrial operations, since its introduction to the market more than 90 years ago in the 1920's. Amongst the forklift's pioneers, Clark has grown to become an industry leading supplier in the material handling business. Different other popular names in the manufacturing of these machinery consist of: Cat, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Yale, Hyster and Nissan.
Hyster has grown to become amongst the most popular units of lift trucks within the business. The truth is, in several regions, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Different other names for this industrial lifting machines include: lift truck, jitney, high/low, stacker truck and fork truck.
The ancestor of today's machinery was first made in the early part of the 19th century. At this time, small, battery-powered units were made for the purpose of transporting traveler's baggage at the Altoona train station in Pennsylvania. During the First World War, various types were made within England specially for use in the material handling industry. These machinery evolved as a solution to the manpower shortage at that time.
Today's machinery come in numerous sizes and configurations. Sod loaders are large truck-mounted forklift units and several of the larger machinery, whereas 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 as a way of lowering operational expenses and to improve production.
A regular forklift is able to use a huge array of attachments that are capable of being added for a variety of particular functions. The motors can be IC or internal combustion units, working on propane, diesel or gasoline, or there are battery operated options that need regular charging. Typical warehouse units would normally be rated to raise between about 1 and 5 tons.
The lift truck has become a priceless part in the material handling industry. Many of these units are used on a daily basis throughout the globe to complete jobs which used to need much more man-power. Operators must take stringent training programs so as to safely and legally run these heavy machinery. Lots of workers have better overall health and longer careers now due to their not having to raise objects manually anymore because the forklifts are capable of handling those situations now instead.