It was during the start of the 20th Century when the first forklifts were introduced. These machinery during the past 90 plus years has changed the material handling business and even the recycling industry. The factors for safe operation, the lift truck's evolution and the various different kinds are discussed below.
History of Forklifts
Powered industrial trucks are also known as lift trucks and forklifts, were first launched and created during the late 19th Century. These initial units were low lift trucks that were capable of raising platforms only a few inches from the ground. Normally, these kinds of equipment were used for transporting supplies inside a shop, such as work-in-progress situations. During the late 1910s, high lift trucks first emerged and truck design improvements began to take root from there. The tier trucks ultimately developed and this allowed for greater stacking of loads and storage efficiency.
During the 1930s, there were some extremely hard economic times. Nonetheless, during this time, labor was freely available but capital for investment was increasingly harder to come by. This situation significantly slowed the growth of lift truck usage.
Lift trucks became a very strategic part of the World War II war effort because the vast shortages in manpower in that time occurred as a resulting of enlistment of thousands of men. It was discovered that a forklift and its driver can deal with the work of many men and were very productive. As the War progressed, lots of women drivers filled the many demands. By the time the war was over, lift trucks became a mainstay of the material handling industry. They were utilized a lot in the Pacific war efforts. Several of the leftover pallets and forklifts within Australia left behind by the U.S. Military became the basis for the CHEP or Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool, who today is referred to as the world's biggest pallet pooling company.
Diesel/Gasoline
There are many benefits to utilizing a gas or diesel powered engine. They are readily available around the world; they deliver consistent power throughout the shift, they are great for heavy duty workloads and many operators are quite familiar with the source of power.
Some of the main drawbacks of diesel and gasoline models consist of: they need a lot more maintenance compared to electric models, due to the emissions they release, they are not appropriate to be utilized inside, there is some difficulty and cost associated to disposal of fluid and oil and they require a re-fueling post on-site if they are going to be used always.