Ever since its introduction in the early 1920s, the forklift has become an invaluable piece of equipment found in numerous warehousing and industrial operations. Clark, amongst the pioneers of the very first lift truck, has grown to become a leader within the material handling business and still remains a leading supplier. Various other well-known names in the making of these machinery comprise: Hyster, Nissan, Yale Mitsubishi, Cat and Toyota.
Hyster has grown to become amongst the most popular models of lift trucks in the business. In fact, in some places, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Various other names for this industrial lifting equipment include: jitney, high/low, lift truck, stacker truck and fork truck.
It was during the 19th century that the machinery ancestors of the forklift was first made. At this time, small, battery-powered models were made for the purpose of moving traveler's baggage at the Altoona train station in Pennsylvania. During the First World War, some different types were made in England specifically to be used in the material handling business. These machines evolved as a solution to the lack of manpower at that time.
The modern equivalents come in a variety of sizes and configurations. There are the big truck-mounted forklift models that are also called sod loaders and then the opposite end of the spectrum has small hand truck units. There are also a line of automated versions referred to as forklift automated guided vehicles that are practically robotic in nature. These units were developed as a way of lowering operational expenses and to improve production.
A common forklift is able to use a wide array of attachments that are capable of being added for a variety of specific functions. The motors can be internal combustion or IC models, working on diesel, gasoline or propane, or there are battery operated options which need regular charging. Standard warehouse models will normally be rated to lift between roughly 1 and 5 tons.
Ever since their evolution, lift trucks have become a priceless component of the material handling business. Many of these models are used on a daily basis all around the globe to complete tasks which used to require much more man-power. Operators have to take stringent training programs so as to run these heavy equipment legally and safely. Many employees have better overall health 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.