Lift trucks were launched onto the market during the start of the 20th Century. These machinery have played a tremendously powerful role in the recycling business and have also revolutionized the material handling industry. The factors for safe use, the forklift's evolution and the many different kinds are discussed below.
History of Lift Trucks
These powered industrial trucks, also referred to as lift trucks and forklifts, were invented and introduced to the market during the latter part of the 19th century. At first, these models were low lift trucks that were only capable of raising platforms several inches high. Usually, these kinds of machinery were used for transporting supplies in a shop, such as work-in-progress situations. In the latter part of 1910s, high lift trucks first emerged and truck design improvements started to take root from there. The tier trucks eventually evolved and this allowed for better storage efficiency and stacking of loads.
There were really hard economic times in the 1930s. However, throughout this particular period, labor was freely available but capital for investment was increasingly harder to come by. This situation really slowed the growth of lift truck usage.
Forklifts became a really strategic part of the World War II war effort because the vast shortages in manpower in that time happened as a resulting of enlistment of thousands of men. It was discovered that its operator and the forklift were extremely productive and can handle the work of numerous men. As the War continued, numerous women operators filled the many demands. When the war was over, lift trucks became a mainstay of the material handling industry. They were used a lot in the Pacific war efforts. Some of the leftover pallets and lift trucks in Australia left behind by the United States Military became the basis for the Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool or CHEP, who today is referred to as the largest pallet pooling company in the world.
Gasoline/Diesel
There are numerous benefits to using a gas or diesel powered engine. They are readily available all over the world; they deliver consistent power throughout the shift, they are great for heavy duty workloads and lots of drivers are quite familiar with the source of power.
Some of the main disadvantages of diesel and gasoline models consist of: they need a lot more maintenance than electric units, due to the emissions they release, they are not appropriate for indoor applications, there is some cost and difficulty associated to disposal of oil and fluid and they need a re-fueling station on-site if they are going to be in continuous use.