It is vital to figure out what type of needs you have prior to selecting the warehouse truck. Consider things such as how high you plan to lift your cargo, how much you need to lift, how much space you have to work in and how far you want to travel. These considerations will truly affect your buying decision and help decipher what type of forklift truck is the best one out there to meet your requirements and meet your overall expectations.
Normal Aisles
The most inexpensive trucks are pedestrian stackers. These machines are ideal for working in normal width aisles and finishing regular stacking tasks in a warehouse. They are capable of easily raising loads of less than 750kg and could stack them to heights of approximately 4.5 metres. One more kind called rider stackers can successfully lift loads to roughly 6 metres.
Yet another choice to consider are reach trucks since they provide much greater load and lift capacities, whereas several models complete with telescopic forks. This feature 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, can be driven in four directions. These models are specifically great for handling bulky and long items such as planks, boards and piping.
Counterbalance trucks are best suited for traveling longer distance and are a good alternative for stacking jobs, particularly block stacking. They are also an ideal 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 would typically be much narrower and the heights you would want to reach to would potentially be a lot higher. Man-up telescopic lift trucks work well in high-bay, narrow aisle stores. They offer the operator or driver a good view of the stacking process. There are also types called man-up combi trucks. These are quite versatile in that they could be used for both stacking and order-picking jobs. They could be driven all over the warehouse or used in narrow aisles.