The forklift has become such an important piece of machine found and used in most industrial operations and warehousing, since its introduction to the market more than 90 years ago during the 1920's. One of the forklift's pioneers, Clark has grown to become an industry top supplier in the material handling business. Other well-known names in the manufacturing of these machines consist of: Cat, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Yale and Hyster.
The Hyster brand of forklift has become among the industries most popular manufacturers. The truth is, in several places, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Different other names for this industrial lifting equipment consist of: jitney, high/low, lift truck, fork truck and stacker 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 transporting traveler's baggage at the Altoona train station within Pennsylvania. In the First World War, various versions were developed in England specially for use in the material handling business. These equipment evolved as a solution to the lack of manpower at that time.
Today's machines come in numerous sizes and configurations. Sod loaders are big truck-mounted forklift units and several of the larger machinery, whereas the smaller machinery consist of hand truck models. There are also a line of automated versions known as forklift automated guided vehicles which are practically robotic in nature. These units were developed to improve production and as a way of lowering operational costs.
A common lift truck is able to use a wide array of attachments which are capable of being added for a variety of specific functions. The motors could be IC or internal combustion units, working on gasoline, propane or diesel, or there are battery operated options that require regular charging. Typical warehouse models would usually be rated to lift between approximately 1 and 5 tons.
The lift truck has become a priceless component in the material handling industry. Many of these units are utilized every day all around the globe to complete tasks that used to need much more man-power. Operators should take stringent training courses in order to safely and legally run these heavy machinery. Many employees have better health overall and longer careers now due to their not having to lift items by hand anymore since the forklifts are capable of handling those situations now instead.