Narrow Aisle Forklifts
There are specially made forklifts that operate in narrow warehouse aisles. These machines are usually known as vary narrow aisle or narrow aisle lift trucks. They can easily negotiate smaller aisles and allow you to enjoy several benefits. For example, the increased amount of space to store stuff can greatly increase the overall available inventory of a company.
The narrow aisle lift truck is manufactured to maneuver rather easily, since they are designed specially to operate in confined areas. Their different design has eliminated a lot of the things that are squished up into the design of the traditional lift truck's main body.
These lift trucks are really slow compared to regular lift trucks that is one of their main drawbacks. If you need to move items across huge areas, the narrow aisle lift truck is not the best. In terms of speed they will not be a reliable choice. If you also have a standard forklift, this will not be a problem. You can just use the narrow aisle lift truck to transport the load to a central place and afterward hand it off to a regular forklift which could travel the bulk of the distance in an efficient and timely way. Usually, narrow aisle forklifts cannot handle as much lifting weight; therefore, outside of smaller loads they are not going to be really effective.
Electric Lift Trucks
For indoor operations such as stores or in warehouses, traditional gas forklifts are not a suitable option. They will not be as safe due to their fumes, or as cost-efficient or useful compared to an electric powered unit. Electric forklifts are usually designed to look and work a lot like gas ones, but they utilize electric batteries that have to be recharged, instead of gasoline fuel.
The electrically powered forklift has become more common and for a variety of reasons. These machines can help companies save expenses on fuel. Electric units would first cost more, but will ultimately save you more over time. For example, when gas prices go up, you will save lots of cash as you will not be affected. Electric models tend to last quite a bit longer than gas powered units too. This is partly because of the fact they are mostly used indoors and hence don't get as dirty or work in as harsh environments as the gas powered units. Electric units are healthier to use in poorly ventilated places such as indoor applications and warehouses because they don't emit noxious fumes. It could be extremely dangerous to utilize gas or diesel forklifts inside.
The electric forklift does have some disadvantages like the fact that they could really just work for roughly 8 hours. Afterward the equipment will need to be charged for 8 hours and rested for another 8 hours. A lot of companies get around this condition by buying a spare battery so they could have less downtime and continually cycle them. There are fast charge batteries emerging on the market which are also reducing the charging time.