Narrow Aisle Forklifts
There are especially designed forklifts that operate in narrow warehouse aisles. These machinery are often referred to as narrow aisle or very narrow aisle lift trucks. They could easily negotiate smaller aisles and allow you to enjoy some advantages. For instance, the increased amount of area to store stuff could really increase a company's overall available inventory.
The narrow aisle lift truck is made to maneuver rather easily, because they are engineered particularly to work in tight spaces. Their different design has eliminated many of the items that are squished up into the design of the traditional lift truck's main body.
These lift trucks are really slow in comparison to standard forklifts which is among their major disadvantages. If you have to transport items across large areas, the narrow aisle lift truck is not the best. When it comes to speed they would not be a dependable choice. If you also have a regular forklift, this will not be an issue. You can simply use the narrow aisle lift truck to transport the load to a central site and then hand it off to a regular forklift that could travel the bulk of the distance in a timely and efficient way. Usually, narrow aisle forklifts cannot handle as much lifting weight; hence, outside of smaller loads they will not be really useful.
Electric Lift Trucks
For indoor applications such as stores or in warehouses, conventional gas forklifts are not a suitable option. They will not be as safe due to their fumes, or as useful or cost-efficient than an electric powered model. Electric forklifts are normally engineered to function and look a lot like gas ones, but they utilize electric batteries which must be recharged, rather than gasoline fuel.
Electric lift trucks are popular for a range of reasons. For starters, they will save you lots of money on fuel expenses. At first, electric models might cost more but over time, they make up for this in the long run. For instance, when gas prices increase, you would not be affected and will save lots of cash. Electric units tend to last quite a bit longer than gas powered units too. This is partly because of the fact they are mostly utilized inside and therefore don't get as dirty or work in as harsh settings as the gas powered units. Electric units are healthier to utilize in areas that are badly ventilated like warehouses and indoor operations as they don't emit noxious fumes. It could be really dangerous to utilize gas or diesel lift trucks inside.
Among the major downsides to electric lift trucks is the fact they could generally just work for one 8 hour shift before the battery has to be charged for another shift. Numerous businesses get around this condition by buying an extra battery so they can continually cycle them and have less downtime. There are fast charge batteries emerging on the market that are also minimizing the charging time.