The lift truck has become such an important piece of equipment found and utilized in most industrial operations and warehousing, 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 leading supplier in the material handling business. Various other popular names in the making of these machines include: Toyota, Mitsubishi, Cat, Yale, Hyster and Nissan.
The Hyster type of lift truck has become one of the industries most popular manufacturers. The truth is, in several places, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Other common names for this industrial lifting machines include: jitney, high/low, lift truck, stacker truck and fork truck.
It was during the 19th century that the equipment ancestors of the lift truck was initially developed. At this time, small, battery-powered models were invented for the purpose of transporting traveler's luggage within Pennsylvania at the Altoona train station. In WWI, several different kinds were made within England specifically to be utilized in the material handling industry. These equipment evolved as a solution to the lack of manpower at that time.
Today's machines come in various sizes and configurations. Sod loaders are big truck-mounted forklift models and several of the larger machines, whereas the smaller machinery consist of hand truck models. There are also a line of automated versions referred to as forklift automated guided vehicles that are basically robotic in nature. These models were made as a means of lowering operational expenses and to improve productivity.
A common lift truck is able to utilize a wide array of attachments which are capable of being added for a variety of specific functions. The motors could be internal combustion or IC units, running on propane, diesel or gasoline, or there are battery operated options which need regular charging. Typical warehouse units will usually be rated to lift between about 1 and 5 tons.
Since their evolution, lift trucks have become a priceless component of the material handling business. Thousands of these models are used on a daily basis throughout the globe to complete jobs which used to need much more man-power. Operators have to take stringent training courses so as to run these heavy equipment legally and safely. Numerous employees have better health overall and longer careers now due to their not having to raise items manually anymore as the forklifts could handle those situations now instead.