Narrow Aisle Forklifts
There are specially designed forklifts that operate in narrow warehouse aisles. These equipment are usually known as narrow aisle or very narrow aisle lift trucks. They could negotiate smaller aisles easily and allow you to enjoy some advantages. For example, the increased amount of space to store stuff could really increase the overall available stock of a business.
Narrow aisle forklifts can maneuver easily too. These machines have been specially engineered to move without a lot of space. Their different design has eliminated a lot of the things which are squished up into the design of the conventional lift truck's main body.
The downside of narrow aisle lift trucks is that they are very slow compared to standard forklifts. Narrow aisle forklifts would not work if you have to move objects across long distances. In terms of speed they would not be a reliable alternative. If you also have a standard lift truck, this would not be a problem. You can just utilize the narrow aisle lift truck to transport the load to a central site and after that hand it off to a regular forklift that could travel the bulk of the distance in an efficient and timely way. Commonly, narrow aisle lift trucks cannot handle as much lifting weight; therefore, outside of smaller loads they are not going to be very useful.
Electric Lift Trucks
Conventional gas forklifts are not a suitable choice for indoor applications such as stores or warehouses. They will not be as safe due to their fumes, or as helpful or cost-efficient than an electric powered model. Electric lift trucks are usually designed to look and work a lot like gas ones, but they utilize electric batteries that need to be recharged, instead of gasoline fuel.
Electric lift trucks are popular for a variety of reasons. For starters, they will save you lots of money on fuel costs. At first, electric units might cost more but over time, they make up for this in the long run. Like for instance, when gas prices increase, you will not be affected and would save a lot of cash. Electric units tend to last quite a bit longer compared to gas powered units too. This is partially due to the fact they are mostly utilized inside and hence don't get as dirty or work in as harsh settings as the gas powered ones. Electric models are healthier to utilize in places that are poorly ventilated like warehouses and indoor operations since they don't emit noxious fumes. It could be extremely dangerous to utilize gas or diesel forklifts indoors.
One of the major downsides to electric lift trucks is the fact they can usually just work for one 8 hour shift before the battery needs to be charged for another shift. Lots of businesses get around this condition by buying a spare battery so they can continually cycle them and have less downtime. There are fast charge batteries emerging on the market which are also minimizing the charging time.