It is vital to figure out what kind of needs you have prior to choosing the warehouse truck. Think about things such as how high you plan to lift your cargo, how much you have to lift, how much space you need to work in and how far you would like to travel. These considerations will influence your buying decision and help decipher what forklift truck is the ideal one out there to meet your requirements and meet your overall expectations.
Normal Aisles
The most economical trucks are pedestrian stackers. These machinery are great for working in normal width aisles and completing regular stacking tasks in a warehouse. They can easily raise cargo of less than 750kg and be able to stack them to heights of around 4.5 metres. A different kind known as rider stackers could successfully raise loads to around 6 metres.
Reach trucks are yet another option to consider. They give you much greater load and lift capacities and several models come complete with telescopic forks. This feature enables you the ability of stacking pallets two deep. For added flexibility in handling goods, there is a multi-way and a 4-way reach truck that as the name implies, can be driven in four directions. These models are particularly great for handling bulky and long items like for instance piping, planks and boards.
The counterbalance line of trucks is best for traveling longer distances. They are a good option for stacking jobs, especially block stacking. They are also an excellent alternative for stacking cargo 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 usually be a lot narrower and the heights you would want to reach to will likely be much higher. Man-up telescopic lift trucks work great in narrow aisle, high-bay stores. They offer the operator or driver a good view of the stacking process. There are also models called man-up combi trucks. These are fairly versatile in that they could be utilized for both order- picking and stacking tasks. They can be used in narrow aisles or driven throughout the warehouse.