It was during the beginning of the 20th Century when the very first lift trucks were introduced. These equipment during the last 90 plus years has revolutionized the material handling industries and even the recycling industry. The factors for safe utilization, the forklift's evolution and the many different kinds are discussed below.
History of Forklifts
These powered industrial trucks, also known as forklifts and lift trucks, were created and launched to the market in the latter part of the 19th century. Originally, these units were low lift trucks that were just capable of raising platforms a few inches high. Generally, these kinds of machines were utilized for moving material inside a shop, such as work-in-progress situations. In the late 1910s, high lift trucks first emerged and truck design enhancements began to take root from there. The tier trucks eventually evolved and this allowed for better storage effectiveness and stacking of loads.
There were really difficult economic times in the 1930s. Then again, in this period, labor was freely available but money for investment was increasingly harder to come by. This situation greatly slowed the growth of forklift usage.
During World War II, forklifts became a strategic part of the war effort. In that era, vast shortages in manpower happened resulting from the wartime enlistment. It was found that a lift truck and its operator were extremely productive and can handle the work of many men. As the War continued, a lot of women operators filled the many demands. By the time the war was over, forklifts became a mainstay of the material handling business. They were utilized a lot in the Pacific war efforts. A few of the leftover pallets and forklifts within Australia left behind by the U.S. Military became the basis for the Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool or CHEP, who today is referred to as the world's biggest pallet pooling business.
Gasoline/Diesel
Gasoline and diesel engines have a lot of advantages. They are readily available all over the world; they deliver consistent power throughout the shift, they are suitable for heavy duty workloads and numerous operators are quite familiar with the source of power.
A few of the major drawbacks of gasoline and diesel models include: they need much more maintenance compared to electric units, because of the emissions they release, they are not suitable to be used inside, there is some difficulty and cost connected to fluid and oil disposal and they require a re-fueling station on-site if they are going to be utilized always.