When the time comes to choose the right warehouse truck, it is a great idea to figure out how high you intend to lift your cargo, how much you have to raise, how much space you have to work in and how far you want to travel. These considerations will influence your purchasing decision and help decipher what kind of forklift truck is the best one out there to suit your needs and meet your overall expectations.
Normal Aisles
Pedestrian stackers are the most cost-effective since these machinery are best used in standard width aisles and could complete ordinary warehouse stacking jobs. They can easily lift cargo of less than 750kg and can stack them to heights of approximately 4.5 metres. Another model known as rider stackers could successfully lift cargo to about 6 metres.
Reach trucks are yet another alternative to think about. They give you much greater lift and load capacities and several models come complete with telescopic forks. This characteristic enables you the ability to stack pallets two deep. For extra flexibility in handling goods, there is a 4-way and a multi-way reach truck which as the name implies, can be driven in four directions. These models are specifically great for handling large and long objects like for instance planks, boards and piping.
Counterbalance trucks are best suited for traveling longer distance and are a great option for stacking jobs, especially block stacking. They are also an excellent alternative for stacking cargo that weigh more than 2 tonnes and free stacking.
A Tight Squeeze
If you are working in a high-density storage operation, the aisle space would usually be much narrower and the heights you will want to reach to will potentially be a lot higher. Man-up telescopic lift trucks function well in narrow aisle, high-bay stores. They provide the driver or operator a good view of the stacking process. There are other models called man-up combi trucks. These are fairly versatile in that they could be utilized for both stacking and order-picking jobs. They could be driven throughout the warehouse or utilized in narrow aisles.