These days more than ever before, businesses need to cut wasteful and profit reducing aspects of their businesses as much as possible. Forklift or industrial trucks are essential to any warehouse operation but need space to move around. This floor space is going to cost the company in terms of potential storage room lost.

However there is now an industrial truck known as the Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) forklift truck. In a low bay warehouse, the VNA truck can increase the capacity of the warehouse by up to 30%. This machine can work in a space of 1.6 metres and lift a 1500 kg load to a height of over seven metres. Since the VNA truck needs very little room in which to operate, it will be possible for the warehouse manager to stack extra pallets closer together or erect more racking systems.

Typically, the VNA truck has a chassis of just over a metre in width and a narrow front axle. This allows it to be utilised in the block stacking of pallets. It also has tough cushion tyre and front wheel drive which make it perfect for use in slippery conditions. Some of these particular industrial trucks do not require guide rails which gives them added flexibility in that they are able to take pallets from the goods received part of the warehouse and stack them away or take full pallets to the processing area of the warehouse or take them to a road vehicle ready to be despatched.

The forklift truck is, without doubt, one of the most important assets a business that needs to move heavy goods around could own.

In a large warehouse such as the supply depots belonging to supermarkets, these industrial trucks will move pallets of produce onto supply lorries quickly and efficiently. There are many different types of industrial trucks now available but for the purpose of this article let us focus on the counterbalanced forklift.

Typically, the counterbalanced forklift will have as its counterweight a block of cast iron. Depending upon the weight of this iron block, the lift will have a set weight lifting capability when its forks are lifting to their maximum height. This weight must never be exceeded because of the danger of the truck toppling over. A plate fastened to the truck will provide appropriate information.

The truck’s mast is the vertical assembly set at the front of the truck and raises or lowers the load. It is also made up of interlocking rails. These rails give it lateral stability. It is operated by one or more of the hydraulic tilt cylinders attached to the truck’s frame and mast. Alternatively the mast may be chain operated using a hydraulic motor.

The carriage, to which the forks or other accessories are attached, is mounted the mast rails and moves up and down them either by using the chains or alternatively it might be attached to the hydraulic cylinder.

The forklift is usually powered by either diesel internal combustion engine or electricity supplied by batteries or fuel cells.

Around the early 1900s, the first battery powered industrial trucks were used. An American railway company introduced the platform trucks to move luggage at one of their train stations.

During World War I, partly due to manual labouring shortages caused by the war, Britain began to develop different kinds of equipment to handle materials.  A company in the USA, in 1917, started to develop and use powered tractors and powered lift tractors in their warehouses.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s the industrial truck or forklift truck was developed, improved and its popularity grew in industry as businesses recognised the advantages of owning equipment that would speed up the movement of heavy materials around their warehouses and premises.
World War II brought about the increased use of forklift trucks to aid the war effort.  After the Second World War, warehouses were developing ever more efficient methods of storing their goods. These developments gave rise to a need for industrial trucks that were both more maneuverable and capable of reaching greater heights.

In 1956 a Japanese company introduced its first forklift truck and made its first sale of a forklift truck in America in 1967. Since that time, many different types of trucks have been developed and built in response to industry’s rising need for their versatility and have now become an indispensible tool in the modern workplace, whether it be a mail sorting centre, a warehouse or dockyard. These modern-day work horses have been a tremendous boon to industry around the world.