The forklift has become such an invaluable piece of machinery found and utilized in most warehousing and industrial operations, since its introduction to the market more than 90 years ago during the 1920's. Among the forklift's pioneers, Clark has grown to become an industry top supplier in the material handling industry. Other popular names in the manufacturing of these machinery include: Yale, Hyster, Nissan Mitsubishi, Cat and Toyota.
Hyster has grown to become among the most popular units of lift trucks within the business. In fact, in some regions, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Other common names for this industrial lifting machinery include: lift truck, jitney, high/low, stacker truck and fork truck.
The ancestor of today's equipment was first made during 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. In WWI, several different types were developed in England specially for use in the material handling industry. These equipment evolved as a solution to the manpower shortage at that time.
The modern equivalents come in a variety of sizes and configurations. There are the big truck-mounted forklift units that are also called sod loaders and then the opposite end of the spectrum has small hand truck units. There are also a line of automated versions referred to as forklift automated guided vehicles which are basically robotic in nature. These models were developed as a way of lowering operational expenses and to improve productivity.
Attachments have been made to fit onto a lot of regular forklifts, giving them the capability of performing a wider selection of jobs. The motors can be IC or internal combustion units, running on propane, diesel or gasoline, or there are battery operated options which require regular charging. Standard warehouse units will normally be rated to lift between about 1 and 5 tons.
The lift truck has become a priceless component in the material handling industry. Many of these units are used each and every day throughout the globe to complete tasks which used to need a lot more man-power. Operators must take stringent training programs so as to run these heavy equipment legally and safely. Numerous workers have better health overall and longer careers now due to their not having to lift things manually anymore since the forklifts are capable of handling those situations now instead.