Ever since its introduction in the early 1920s, the lift truck has become an invaluable piece of machine found in many warehousing and industrial operations. Clark, one of the pioneers of the very first lift truck, has grown to become a leader in the material handling industry and still remains a leading supplier. Other well-known names in the manufacturing of these machines consist of: Yale, Hyster, Nissan Cat, Toyota and Mitsubishi.
Hyster has grown to become amongst the most popular models of forklifts within the business. As a matter of fact, in some regions, the word "Hyster" is synonymous with forklift. Various other names for this industrial lifting machines comprise: lift truck, jitney, high/low, fork truck and stacker truck.
The ancestor of today's machines was initially developed during the early part of the 19th century. At this time, battery-powered, small units were invented for the purpose of transporting traveler's baggage at the Altoona train station within Pennsylvania. During the First World War, various versions were developed within England specially for use in the material handling business. These equipment evolved as a solution to the manpower shortage at that time.
The modern equivalents come in a range of sizes and configurations. There are the large truck-mounted lift truck units that are also referred to as sod loaders and then the opposite end of the spectrum has small hand truck units. There are also a line of automated versions known as forklift automated guided vehicles which are basically robotic in nature. These units were made to improve productivity and as a way of lowering operational costs.
Attachments have been made to fit onto many common lift trucks, giving them the capability of performing a wider selection of tasks. The motors could be internal combustion or IC units, running on diesel, gasoline or propane, or there are battery operated options which need regular charging. Standard warehouse models will usually be rated to raise between roughly 1 and 5 tons.
Since their evolution, lift trucks have become a priceless part of the material handling industry. Thousands of these units are utilized on a daily basis throughout the world to perform tasks which used to need a lot more man-power. Operators must take stringent training courses in order to legally and safely run these heavy machines. Many 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.