The forklift has become such an important piece of machine found and used in most warehousing and industrial operations, since its introduction to the market more than 90 years ago in the 1920's. One of the forklift's pioneers, Clark has grown to become an industry leading supplier in the material handling business. Different other popular names in the manufacturing of these equipment consist of: Nissan, Yale, Hyster Cat, Toyota and Mitsubishi.
Hyster has grown to become amongst the most popular units of forklifts within the business. As a matter of fact, in some regions, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Various other names for this industrial lifting machinery include: stacker truck, fork truck, lift truck, jitney and high/low.
The ancestor of today's equipment was first developed in the early part of the 19th century. At this time, battery-powered, small models were invented for the purpose of moving traveler's luggage at the Altoona train station in Pennsylvania. In the First World War, various kinds were developed in England particularly for use in the material handling industry. These equipment evolved as a solution to the lack of manpower at that time.
Today's machinery come in various sizes and configurations. Sod loaders are large truck-mounted forklift models and several of the bigger machines, whilst the smaller equipment consist of hand truck models. There are also a line of automated versions referred to as forklift automated guided vehicles that are practically robotic in nature. These units were made to improve productivity and as a means of lowering operational expenses.
A regular lift truck is able to use a wide array of attachments which are capable of being added for a range of particular functions. The motors could be IC or internal combustion units, working on propane, diesel or gasoline, or there are battery operated options that require regular charging. Standard warehouse models would normally be rated to raise between roughly 1 and 5 tons.
Since their evolution, forklifts have become a priceless component of the material handling business. Many of these units are utilized each day all around the globe to perform jobs which used to require a lot more man-power. Operators must take stringent training programs in order to legally and safely operate these heavy machines. Numerous workers have better health overall and longer careers now due to their not having to raise objects by hand anymore because the forklifts are capable of handling those situations now instead.