Ever since its introduction during the early 1920s, the lift truck has become an invaluable piece of equipment found in numerous industrial operations and warehousing. Clark, among the pioneers of the very first forklift, has grown to become a leader within the material handling business and still remains a top supplier. Different other well-known names in the making of these equipment consist of: Toyota, Mitsubishi, Cat, Yale, Hyster and Nissan.
Hyster has grown to become one of the most popular units of forklifts in the business. In fact, in several regions, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Other common names for this industrial lifting machinery comprise: lift truck, jitney, high/low, fork truck and stacker truck.
The ancestor of today's machines was first developed during the early part of the 19th century. At this time, small, battery-powered models were made for the purpose of transporting traveler's luggage at the Altoona train station within Pennsylvania. In WWI, some different types were developed within England specially to be used in the material handling business. These machinery evolved as a solution to the lack of manpower at that time.
The modern equivalents come in a variety of configurations and sizes. There are the large truck-mounted forklift units that are also known as sod loaders and then the opposite end of the spectrum has small hand truck models. There are also a line of automated versions known as forklift automated guided vehicles that are basically robotic in nature. These units were developed as a way of lowering operational costs and to improve production.
A common lift truck is able to use a wide range of attachments which are capable of being added for a range of particular functions. The motors could be internal combustion or IC models, working on propane, diesel or gasoline, or there are battery operated options that require regular charging. Standard warehouse models would normally be rated to raise between around 1 and 5 tons.
The lift truck has become a priceless component in the material handling business. Many of these models are used on a daily basis all around the world to complete jobs which used to need much more man-power. Operators should take stringent training programs in order to legally and safely operate these heavy machinery. Numerous workers have longer careers now and better health overall due to their not having to lift objects by hand anymore because the forklifts are capable of handling those situations now instead.