The lift truck has become such an important piece of machinery found and utilized in most industrial operations and warehousing, since its introduction to the market more than 90 years ago during the 1920's. Amongst the forklift's pioneers, Clark has grown to become an industry top supplier in the material handling industry. Other well-known names in the making of these equipment consist of: Toyota, Mitsubishi, Cat, Nissan, Yale and Hyster.
The Hyster type of forklift has become one of the industries most popular manufacturers. The truth is, in some regions, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Other common names for this industrial lifting machines comprise: high/low, lift truck, jitney, stacker truck and fork truck.
The ancestor of today's machinery 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 baggage at the Altoona train station in Pennsylvania. In WWI, some different versions were made within England specifically to be utilized in the material handling industry. These machinery evolved as a solution to the lack of manpower at that time.
The modern equivalents come in a range of sizes and configurations. There are the large truck-mounted forklift models that are also called sod loaders and then the opposite end of the spectrum has small hand truck models. There are also a line of automated versions known as forklift automated guided vehicles that are practically robotic in nature. These models were made as a way of lowering operational expenses and to improve productivity.
Attachments have been made to fit onto many common lift trucks, giving them the capability of performing a wider selection of tasks. The motors can be IC or internal combustion units, running on diesel, gasoline or propane, or there are battery operated options that need regular charging. Standard warehouse units will normally be rated to lift between around 1 and 5 tons.
The lift truck has become a priceless part in the material handling business. Thousands of these units are used on a daily basis all over the globe to perform tasks which used to need much more man-power. Operators must take stringent training courses in order to legally and safely operate these heavy machines. Numerous workers have better health overall and longer careers now due to their not having to raise objects manually anymore because the forklifts are capable of handling those situations now instead.