Narrow Aisle Forklifts
Some lift trucks are especially designed to fit down very narrow aisles inside a warehouse. These units are referred to as narrow aisle lift trucks. They can easily negotiate smaller aisles and allow you to enjoy some advantages. Like for instance, the increased amount of area to keep objects can greatly increase the overall available stock of a company.
The narrow aisle lift truck is made to maneuver quite easily, since they are engineered particularly to operate in tight spaces. Their unique design has eliminated many of the things which are squished up into the design of the conventional forklift's main body.
These lift trucks are very slow compared to standard lift trucks which is among their key drawbacks. If you need to transport items across large areas, the narrow aisle forklift is not the best. When it comes to speed they will not be a dependable option. If you also have a standard forklift, this would not be a problem. You could just use the narrow aisle lift truck to transport the load to a central location and after that hand it off to a standard lift truck which could travel the bulk of the distance in an efficient and timely way. Commonly, narrow aisle lift trucks cannot handle as much lifting weight; thus, outside of smaller loads they would not be really helpful.
Electric Lift Trucks
For indoor operations such as stores or in warehouses, conventional gas lift trucks are not a suitable choice. They will not be as safe due to their fumes, or as cost-efficient or helpful than an electric powered model. Electric lift trucks are usually designed to work and look a lot like gas ones, but they rely on electric batteries that should be recharged, rather than gasoline fuel.
Electric lift trucks are popular for a variety of reasons. For starters, they would save you a lot of money on fuel expenses. At first, electric units may cost more but eventually, they make up for this in the long run. Like for example, when gas prices increase, you will save a lot of cash because you will not be affected. Electric models tend to last quite a bit longer than gas powered units as well. This is partly due to the fact they are mostly utilized indoors and therefore don't get as dirty or work in as harsh environments as the gas powered ones. Electric units are healthier to utilize in poorly ventilated areas such as warehouses and indoor applications as they don't emit noxious fumes. It can be extremely dangerous to use gas or diesel forklifts inside.
Among the major disadvantages to electric forklifts is the fact they could generally just work for one 8 hour shift before the battery has to be charged for another shift. Lots of businesses get around this situation by purchasing a spare battery so they could have less downtime and continually cycle them. There are fast charge batteries available on the market that are also reducing the charging time.