The forklift has been around ever since the early 1920's. This kind of equipment was created in the 1920s and since its invention, has become one of the most of the indispensable pieces of manufacturing and warehousing machinery in the world.
Sometimes referred to as lift trucks, one of their initial uses was carrying and transporting luggage at train stations and airports. Throughout WWII the use of these machines exploded and the warehousing industry expanded significantly. The conventional equipment was adapted to deal with the requirements of stacking inventory on higher shelves and they were made to move faster and carry heavier loads.
The lift truck is usually used for stacking inventory in warehouses. Objects for the most part are packed onto pallets that are designed specially to enable the forks to move under the openings of the pallets. The forklift can then securely lift the goods without it wobbling or falling onto the ground. When the pallets are in position, they could be transported easily to another place. Lift trucks are also utilized much within the docking, shipping, agriculture and mining industry.
Forklifts are normally seen on construction locations. The manufacturers of these equipment make them to lift big heavy boxes and heavy pipes, concrete slabs, other equipment and ceramics. Because it is fairly a compact unit, this equipment can move from one place to another at a fairly good speed.
The dimensions of the forklift vary depending on the unit and its particular application. For warehousing applications, there are the narrow aisle truck units. These need the floor to be extremely flat and are quite a bit smaller in size. Usually, they are made with rear wheel steering. There has been a significant increase in these equipment within the mining and manufacturing machinery industries. Since lift trucks normally deal with petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals and flammable supplies, the machinery have become more robust and stronger.
Lift trucks have a load capacity ranging from 1 to 5 tons. There are heavy-duty models which could handle up to 50 tons. These models are usually used to load shipping equipment off of and into ships. Forklifts and their required training to operate are particularly regulated to ensure the safety of the people using this particular equipment. No body can operate them legally without finishing the proper training and documents.