Narrow Aisle Lift Trucks
Narrow Aisle Lift Trucks are electric trucks designed to operate in narrow aisles. Standard storage aisles are only 3.6 meters wide, enough space for a counterbalanced lift truck to pivot within the aisle. Nevertheless, narrow aisles could be about 2.4 meters wide to as little as 1.8 meters. The narrow space requires specific lift truck models which are capable of tight turns, small, and able to put away loads without pivoting. The popular kinds of narrow-aisle trucks are turret trucks, order pickers and reach trucks.
Narrow-aisle reach trucks
Reach trucks were the very first narrow-aisle lift truck to be manufactured for warehouse applications. These small trucks could turn with no trouble within narrow aisles since their design has eliminated the requirement for a big counterweight. Instead, stability is provided by outrigger arms which extend in front of the truck. The downside of this particular design is that the outrigger arms can inhibit access to the storage rack since the truck cannot get close enough. These trucks work well in a warehouse which is well lit, has even, clean floors, enough turning space and good flow of traffic.
Turret trucks
The design of a turret truck has pivoting forks on side of the truck. The forks turn 90 degrees and move from side to side. The load faces forward while the operator drives down the aisle. When it stops at the designated storage place, the forks of the truck turn to the storage side and lift the load to their full extension, and next smoothly deposit the load prior to resuming their original position. Turret trucks could come with a wire guidance system that keeps the truck on its path in very narrow aisles. In man-down trucks, operators remain at floor level.