It was during the beginning of the 20th Century when the very first forklifts were introduced. These machines over the past 90 plus years has revolutionized the material handling business and even the recycling industry. The considerations for safe utilization, the forklift's evolution and the many different types are discussed below.
History of Forklifts
These powered industrial trucks, also known as lift trucks and forklifts, were created and introduced to the market in the late 19th century. Initially, these models were low lift trucks which were just capable of raising platforms several inches high. Usually, these kinds of equipment were utilized for transporting supplies within a shop, such as work-in-progress situations. During the latter part of 1910s, high lift trucks first emerged and improvements in truck design began to take root from there. The tier trucks eventually evolved and this allowed for better storage efficiency and stacking of loads.
There were extremely difficult economic times in the 1930s. Nevertheless, in this time, labor was freely available but capital for investment was increasingly more difficult to come by. This situation greatly slowed the growth of forklift usage.
Lift trucks became a very strategic part of the WWII war effort as the vast shortages in manpower during that time happened as a resulting of enlistment of thousands of men. It was found that a lift truck and its driver were very productive and could deal with the work of many men. As the War progressed, lots of women drivers filled the many demands. When the war was over, lift trucks became a mainstay of the material handling business. They were utilized a lot in the Pacific war efforts. Some of the leftover pallets and lift trucks in Australia left behind by the U.S. Military became the basis for the CHEP or Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool, who today is known as the world's largest pallet pooling business.
Gasoline/Diesel
Diesel and gasoline engines have many benefits. They are always available all over the globe; they are perfect for heavy duty workloads, they deliver consistent power throughout the shift and lots of drivers are quite familiar with the source of power.
Several of the diesel and gas engines drawbacks include: they require a lot more maintenance compared to electric units, because of the emissions they release, they are not suitable to be utilized inside, there is some difficulty and cost associated to disposal of fluid and oil and they require a re-fueling station on-site if they are going to be used always.