Forklifts are machines which forklift drivers utilize to shuttle materials from one location to another in warehouse and manufacturing environments. The equipment lifts pallets, also referred to as skids, which are loaded with objects. The lift truck is made with forks that insert into the pallet rungs. Forklifts are also sometimes known as as Lift Trucks, Pallet Trucks, Skid Trucks, High/Low, Stacker-Trucks and Side Loaders.
The very first forklifts were marketed during the early 1900s by companies such as Clark and Yale & Towne Manufacturing. Nowadays nearly all goods stores on pallets and are shipped to warehouses. Forklifts are usually found inside manufacturing plants and warehouses, where they are depended upon to operate the business smoothly.
Among the various kinds of pallets or skid lifts are the following: Hand pallet truck; Walkie low lift truck - with electrical motor; Rider low lift truck; Towing tractor; IC counterbalanced truck; Sideloader; Telescopic handler; Slip Sheet machine; Walkie stacker; Rider stacker; Reach truck; Electric counterbalanced truck; Walkie Order Picking truck; Rider Order Picking truck - also called "Order Picker"; Articulated Very Narrow Aisle Counterbalanced trucks - also referred to as "Flexi Truck"; Truck Mounted Forklift / Sod Loader; Guided Very Narrow Aisle truck ; 'Man Down' - for narrow aisles; and 'Man Riser' Combination Order Picker/ Stacker truck
There are counterbalanced forklift trucks available for specialized uses, like for example the articulated counterbalance truck. This particular hybrid is suggested for really narrow aisles since it could onload and offload within very tight spaces.
Capable if lifting as high as 12 meters are the Guided Vary Narrow Aisle Trucks. The "non top-tied" kind can lift up to 30 meters high. These types of trucks are available in man-riser and man-down models. This machinery should be utilized only on floors which are flat and even.