When the time comes to pick the right warehouse truck, it is a great idea to figure out how high you plan to raise your cargo, how much you have to lift, how much space you have to work in and how far you want to travel. These considerations will influence your buying decision and help decipher which type of forklift truck is truly the ideal one out there to suit all your requirements and meet your overall expectations.
Normal Aisles
Pedestrian stackers are the most inexpensive as these machines are best utilized in normal width aisles and could complete ordinary warehouse stacking jobs. They could easily lift loads of less than 750kg and can stack them to heights of approximately 4.5 metres. A different type called rider stackers can successfully raise cargo to about 6 metres.
Reach trucks are yet a different alternative to think about. They give you much greater lift and load capacities and some models come complete with telescopic forks. This characteristic allows you the ability to stack pallets two deep. For added flexibility in handling goods, there is a 4-way and a multi-way reach truck which as the name implies, could be driven in four directions. These models are particularly great for handling large and long objects like planks, boards and piping.
Counterbalance trucks are best suitable for traveling longer distance and are a great option for stacking jobs, particularly block stacking. They are also a great alternative for stacking loads that weigh more than 2 tonnes and free stacking.
A Tight Squeeze
If you are working in a high-density storage operation, the aisle space will typically be much narrower and the heights you would want to reach to would likely be much higher. Man-up telescopic lift trucks work well in narrow aisle, high-bay stores. They provide the operator or driver a good view of the stacking process. There are other types known as man-up combi trucks. These are quite versatile in that they can be used for both order- picking and stacking tasks. They could be used in narrow aisles or driven all around the warehouse.