The forklift has been around since the early part of the 1920's. Ever since its inception, the forklift has become an indispensable equipment for the materials handling business.
Sometimes referred to as forklifts, among their initial uses was lifting and moving baggage at train stations and airports. During the Second World War the use of these machinery exploded and the warehousing business expanded significantly. The traditional machine was adapted to deal with the requirements of stacking inventory on higher shelves and they were designed to move faster and lift heavier cargo.
Usually, lift truck trucks are used for stacking inventory inside warehouses. In the majority of cases, things are packed onto pallets which make it ideal for the tines to move in between the open spaces of the pallets. The forklift could then securely carry the cargo without it falling into the ground or wobbling. Once the pallets are in place, they can be transported easily to another location. Lift trucks are also utilized much within the shipping, docking, agriculture and mining industry.
Lift trucks are normally seen on construction sites. The manufacturers of these machinery make them to pick up large heavy boxes and concrete slabs, heavy pipes, ceramics and other equipment. As it is quite a compact unit, this machine could move from one place to a different place at a moderately good speed.
The dimensions of the lift truck differ depending on the model and its specific use. For warehousing applications, there are the narrow aisle truck units. These are quite a bit smaller in size and require the floor to be extremely flat. Usually, they are designed with rear wheel steering. There has been a dramatic increase in these equipment within the mining and manufacturing machinery businesses. Since lift trucks normally deal with petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals and flammable supplies, the equipment have become more durable and stronger.
Lift trucks have a load capacity varying from 1 to 5 tons. There are heavy-duty units that could handle up to 50 tons. These models are normally used to load shipping equipment off of and into ships. Lift trucks and their required training to operate are particularly regulated to ensure the safety of the people utilizing this particular machinery. No one could use them legally without finishing the correct documents and training.