The forklift has become such an important piece of machine found and utilized in most industrial operations and warehousing, since its introduction to the market more than 90 years ago in the 1920's. One of the forklift's pioneers, Clark has grown to become an industry leading supplier in the material handling industry. Different other well-known names in the manufacturing of these equipment include: Mitsubishi, Cat, Toyota, Nissan, Yale and Hyster.
The Hyster brand of lift truck has become amongst 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 machinery comprise: stacker truck, fork truck, high/low, lift truck and jitney.
It was in the 19th century that the equipment ancestors of the forklift was first developed. At this time, small, battery-powered units were made for the purpose of moving traveler's baggage at the Altoona train station in Pennsylvania. During WWI, some different versions were made within England specially for use in the material handling industry. These equipment evolved as a solution to the lack of manpower at that time.
Today's machines come in many sizes and configurations. Sod loaders are big truck-mounted forklift models and some of the bigger machines, while the smaller machinery consist of hand truck models. There are also a line of automated versions referred to as forklift automated guided vehicles which are practically robotic in nature. These units were made as a way of lowering operational costs and to improve production.
A regular forklift is able to use a huge range of attachments that are capable of being added for a range of particular functions. The motors can be internal combustion or IC models, running on propane, diesel or gasoline, or there are battery operated options that need regular charging. Standard warehouse models will usually be rated to raise between approximately 1 and 5 tons.
The forklift has become a priceless part in the material handling business. Thousands of these models are utilized on a daily basis all over the globe to complete jobs which used to require a lot more man-power. Operators should take stringent training courses so as to run these heavy machines legally and safely. Numerous workers have longer careers now and better health overall due to their not having to lift objects by hand anymore since the forklifts could handle those situations now instead.