The calculation is easy – space is money; the more efficient your storage, the more money you save. However, the constraint on effective space utilisation is rarely the storage medium itself. More often, it is the way you handle goods and, more specifically, what you handle them with. In many cases, that involves lift trucks.
These come in several main types including sideloaders, order pickers and pedestrian trucks. But, broadly, there are three main types – counterbalance, reach, very narrow aisle. The type you specify is usually determined by the need to squeeze more into less space, a higher throughput requirement or budgetary constraints.
Here, we take a whistle-stop tour of the main truck types. The guide is, inevitably, general in nature and can’t possibly cover the wide range of products within each category. For that you will need to consult the product manufacturers and/or the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA). But it should, at least, offer a taste of what’s out there.
Counterbalance trucks: The traditional workhorses used to transport palletised loads, these trucks are so named because the weight of the load (forward of the chassis at the front of the vehicle) is counterbalanced by a large weight built into the rear.
Characterised by high travel speeds with swift direction changes and smooth acceleration, counterbalance trucks are highly flexible – they can be used indoors and outdoors and can be fitted with a wide range of attachments.
Typical models have a lifting capacity in the range of 1,000 to 3,000kg and lift heights of 3m to 6m, depending on the mast configuration. Peter Harvey, chief executive of the FLTA, says: “An important early decision to be made when purchasing a counterbalance truck will be the power source. This decision brings its own safety issues, not least the issues of fumes and fuel storage.”
For Craig Johnson, marketing manager at Jungheinrich UK, while the development of productive, energy efficient and environmentally friendly fuel sources remains a key priority for all forklift manufacturers, the lead acid battery, diesel and LP gas remain the most popular.
He says the factory manager’s decision to choose an electric or internal combustion engine forklift fleet will be driven, to a large extent, by the nature of the application for which the trucks are intended.
“Generally, IC-engine-powered trucks are more suited to doing the bigger jobs than an electric forklift because, by and large, they can lift much heavier loads to much greater heights. They are also popular because of their competitive pricing and suitability for inside/outside usage and convenience for round the clock working.”
Four wheel diesel and LPG counterbalance forklift trucks are, says Sally Baker, marketing manager at materials handling specialist Briggs Equipment, well-suited to loading/unloading, shuttling and storage of raw materials, finished goods and production materials.
“Compact/narrow aisle models are designed for use in confined space warehouse applications. Heavy duty models are purpose-designed for arduous and intensive duty work cycle applications in sectors such as manufacturing, building materials, paper/pulp and metal stockholding and cope with 24-hour operations.”
She says three-wheel electric counterbalance forklift trucks offer front and rear wheel drive so are versatile and manoeuvrable and well suited to medium duty applications.
Reach trucks: The load is carried partially within the chassis, with the mast ‘reaching’ out and in to place and recover the load. With a capacity of 2,000 kg or more, they can be configured to lift loads up to about 12m.
Says Harvey: “Reach trucks are usually battery powered. The operator generally sits sideways, although there are also stand-on models. Reach trucks are particularly useful for flexible narrow aisle storage within racking systems. They are designed to operate indoors on smooth floors and have solid tyre wheels. A few models can be fitted with cabs and tyres suitable for yard use.”
The key customer requirements from a reach truck fleet are, says Johnson, productivity, low life time cost of ownership, driver comfort and, of course, safety.
“When selecting the right truck for a particular application it is essential to consider the intensity of the shift and the number of shifts that the truck will be expected to operate. This, will not only have implications on the type of truck that is required but on the amount of space within the warehouse facility that needs to be dedicated to the battery charging and changing bay.”
Although reach trucks are perceived as only being suitable for work inside the store, models are available that are equally at home outside.
Johnson adds: “In simple terms, users expect their reach trucks to help them move the maximum number of pallet loads as quickly as possible. So, with warehouses and factories getting bigger all the time, it’s important to choose a truck with a high operating speed.
“Some trucks on the market slow down considerably when carrying a load, so I would advise anyone specifying new reach trucks for their company to check that the top speed quoted by their truck supplier is the speed that the truck can actually achieve when carrying a load.”
Very narrow aisle (VNA) trucks AKA the high rack stacker: As the name suggests, the truck operates in very narrow high aisles in order to maximize storage density. The operator can swivel the forks and reach the load forward to put it away in the racking. Depending on the specification, loads of 1,500kg can be whisked up to 17m.
Man down is where the operator remains at ground level; man up is where the operator’s cab lifts up on the carriage, level with the forks. John Maguire, sales and marketing director of Narrow Aisle, says: “Thanks to advances in modern forklift operator high definition camera systems, demand for man-up turret trucks is likely to fall so dramatically that the technology could become obsolete within the next five years.”
With a man-up truck the truck operator sits next to the fork carriage of the truck and is lifted to the level within the racking from where the pallet is to be picked or put away.
Maguire says: “Historically, this ‘man-to-goods’ process was considered essential when lifting at heights of over 9m because it gave the truck operator a clear view of the pallet handling process. At that time the poor quality, reliability and high cost of black and white cathode ray tube CCTV screens and cameras meant leaving the man on the ground and stacking remotely was not a practical solution without introducing levels of remote automation that were not cost effective.
“However, as high definition CCTV camera systems, RFID and data scanning systems have evolved, the man-up turret truck looks increasingly like yesterday’s technology.”