The lift truck has become such an invaluable piece of machine found and used in most warehousing and industrial operations, ever 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 industry. Various other well-known names in the manufacturing of these machinery comprise: Cat, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Yale and Hyster.
Hyster has grown to become among the most popular models of forklifts within the business. The truth is, in several places, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Various other names for this industrial lifting machines consist of: stacker truck, fork truck, lift truck, jitney and high/low.
The ancestor of today's machines was first made in the early part of the 19th century. At this time, small, battery-powered units were invented for the purpose of moving traveler's luggage at the Altoona train station in Pennsylvania. During the First World War, various versions were developed within England specially for use in the material handling industry. These machines evolved as a solution to the lack of manpower at that time.
The modern equivalents come in a range of configurations and sizes. There are the big truck-mounted forklift units that are also referred to 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 means of lowering operational costs and to improve productivity.
Attachments have been made to fit onto a lot of common lift trucks, giving them the capability of performing a wider selection of tasks. The motors can be IC or internal combustion models, working on gasoline, propane or diesel, or there are battery operated options which require regular charging. Standard warehouse units would normally be rated to raise between roughly 1 and 5 tons.
The forklift has become a priceless component within the material handling industry. Many of these models are used on a daily basis all over the world to perform tasks which used to require a lot more man-power. Operators must take stringent training programs so as to run these heavy machines safely and legally. Many 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.