Narrow Aisle Forklifts
Some forklifts are especially designed to fit down very narrow aisles inside a warehouse. These units are known as narrow aisle forklifts. They can negotiate smaller aisles easily and enable you to enjoy some benefits. For instance, the increased amount of space to keep stuff could greatly increase a company's overall available stock.
The narrow aisle forklift is made to maneuver quite easily, since they are engineered particularly to operate in confined spaces. Their unique design has eliminated many of the items which are squished up into the main body of the traditional forklift design.
These lift trucks are very slow in comparison to regular lift trucks which is amongst their key disadvantages. If you have to transport things across huge areas, the narrow aisle forklift is not the best. When it comes to speed they would not be a dependable alternative. If you also have a standard lift truck, this will not be a problem. You could just use the narrow aisle forklift to transport the load to a central location and then hand it off to a regular forklift that can travel the bulk of the distance in an efficient and timely manner. Usually, narrow aisle lift trucks cannot handle as much lifting weight; therefore, outside of smaller loads they would not be very useful.
Electric Lift Trucks
For indoor use like stores or inside warehouses, traditional gas forklifts are not a suitable option. They would not be as safe due to their fumes, or as helpful or cost-efficient compared to an electric powered unit. Electric lift trucks are normally engineered to look and function a lot like gas ones, but they use electric batteries which should be recharged, instead of gasoline fuel.
Electric lift trucks are popular for a variety of reasons. For starters, they would save you a lot of money on fuel costs. Initially, electric units may cost more but eventually, they make up for this in the long run. Like for instance, when gas prices go up, you would not be affected and will save a lot of cash. Electric models tend to last quite a bit longer than gas powered models as well. This is partly due to the fact they are mainly used indoors and hence don't get as dirty or work in as harsh settings as the gas powered ones. Electric models are healthier to use in poorly ventilated places like indoor applications and warehouses because they don't emit noxious fumes. It can be very dangerous to utilize diesel or gas lift trucks indoors.
Amongst the main 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. Numerous businesses get around this situation by buying an extra battery so they can continually cycle them and have less downtime. There are fast charge batteries available on the market that are also minimizing the charging time.