Narrow Aisle Forklifts
There are specially made forklifts which operate in narrow warehouse aisles. These machinery are normally referred to as narrow aisle or very narrow aisle forklifts. They can negotiate smaller aisles easily and allow you to enjoy some benefits. For example, the increased amount of space to keep stuff can greatly increase a company's overall available inventory.
Narrow aisle forklifts could maneuver easily as well. These equipment have been specially engineered to move without much space. Their unique design has eliminated a lot of the items which are squished up into the design of the conventional forklift's main body.
The disadvantage of narrow aisle forklifts is that they are very slow in comparison to standard lift trucks. Narrow aisle lift trucks will not work if you need to transport items across large distances. When it comes to speed they will not be a dependable alternative. If you also have a regular forklift, this would not be an issue. You could just use the narrow aisle forklift to transport the load to a central location and then hand it off to a standard forklift which can travel the bulk of the distance in an efficient and timely manner. Commonly, narrow aisle lift trucks cannot handle as much lifting weight; thus, outside of smaller loads they will not be really effective.
Electric Forklifts
For indoor applications like stores or inside warehouses, traditional 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 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.
Electric lift trucks are popular for a range of reasons. For starters, they would save you lots of money on fuel expenses. 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 go up, you would save lots of cash because you would not be affected. Electric models tend to last somewhat a bit longer than gas powered models too. This is partially 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 units. Electric units are healthier to use in places which are poorly ventilated like indoor applications and warehouses since they don't emit noxious fumes. It can be very dangerous to use gas or diesel lift trucks indoors.
The electric lift truck does have some downsides like the fact that they could really only work for roughly 8 hours. Afterward the machinery will need to be charged for 8 hours and rested for another 8 hours. Lots of companies get around this condition by purchasing an extra battery so they could continually cycle them and have less downtime. There are fast charge batteries available on the market which are also reducing the charging time.