Narrow Aisle Forklifts
Some forklifts are especially made to fit down very narrow aisles inside a warehouse. These units are known as narrow aisle lift trucks. They can negotiate smaller aisles with ease and allow you to enjoy some benefits. For example, the increased amount of space to store objects could greatly increase a company's overall available inventory.
The narrow aisle lift truck is manufactured to maneuver rather easily, because they are designed specially to operate in tight areas. Their unique design has eliminated a lot of the things which are squished up into the main body of the traditional lift truck design.
These lift trucks are really slow compared to standard forklifts that is one of their main drawbacks. If you need 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 reliable option. If you also have a standard lift truck, this would not be a problem. You could simply utilize the narrow aisle lift truck to move the load to a central place and afterward hand it off to a standard forklift that could travel the bulk of the distance in a timely and efficient way. Usually, narrow aisle lift trucks cannot handle as much lifting weight; thus, outside of smaller loads they are not going to be really effective.
Electric Lift Trucks
For indoor operations such as stores or inside warehouses, traditional gas forklifts are not a suitable alternative. They would not be as safe due to their fumes, or as useful or cost-efficient compared to an electric powered unit. Electric lift trucks are usually designed to look and work a lot like gas ones, but they use electric batteries that must be recharged, instead of gasoline fuel.
The electrically powered lift truck has become more popular and for a variety of reasons. These equipment could help companies save costs on fuel. Electric units will first cost more, but would ultimately save you more over time. For instance, when gas prices go up, you would not be affected and will save a lot of cash. Electric models tend to last somewhat a bit longer than gas powered units too. This is partly because of the fact they are mostly utilized indoors and thus don't get as dirty or work in as harsh environments as the gas powered ones. Electric units are healthier to utilize in areas which are poorly ventilated like warehouses and indoor applications since they don't emit noxious fumes. It can be extremely dangerous to use gas or diesel forklifts indoors.
Amongst the main downsides to electric lift trucks is the fact they can normally only work for one 8 hour shift before the battery needs to be charged for another shift. Lots of companies get around this condition by purchasing an extra battery so they could have less downtime and continually cycle them. There are fast charge batteries emerging on the market that are also reducing the charging time.