Forklifts Types and Terms

Forklift Types

• Class I forklifts are rider trucks, either stand-up operator or seated three-wheel units, with an electric motor. They usually are counterbalanced with cushion or pneumatic wheels.
  
• Class II forklifts are electric motor vehicles used in narrow aisle or inventory stock picking functions and may include extra reach or swing mast options.
  
• Class III forklifts are vehicles with a walk-behind or standing rider controller and have electric motors. They are commonly automated pallet lift trucks and high lift models, and are usually offset.
  
• Class IV forklifts are vehicles with cabs and seated controls for a rider, and they have internal combustion engines.
  
• Class V forklifts are rider fork vehicles that feature cabs and seated controls and have internal combustion engines. They are usually equipped with pneumatic tires. They are often counterbalanced.
  
• Fork lift trucks are industrial vehicles used to lift and move heavy loads.
• Fork lift manufacturers make the vehicles used to lift heavy loads.
• Lift trucks are used to lift heavy loads and move large quantities.
• Manual drive forklifts manually move the load and are controlled by a person walking behind the lift.
  
• Motorized drive forklifts include a cab or seat for the driver to operate the vehicle while riding in it. This is useful for larger travel distances.
  
• Narrow aisle trucks are vehicles that can operate in aisles typically 8 to 10 feet clear. There are also very narrow aisle trucks, which operate in clear aisles of about 5 feet.
  
• Pallet trucks are common and outfitted for specific use with pallets in storage, warehouse and manufacturing settings.
  
• Platform trucks have a load platform intended to pick up and deposit a customer`s specific type of skid.
• Reach trucks are industrial vehicles used to lift and move pallet loads from racks housed in narrow aisles.
• Side loaders are equipped to reach forward to pick up or deposit long, heavy loads or pallets and are able to work in very narrow aisles.
  
• Straddle trucks are high-lift trucks with a wide baseleg opening so they can straddle a pallet and employ the load.
  
• Turret trucks are a counterbalanced truck with a high lift and a rotatable elevating mechanism able to transport and tier a load. They are able to move to storage at right angles.

Forklift Terms

ANSI B56.1 - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standard of safety for low-lift and high-lift trucks, approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
 
Axle Weight - The distribution of the load to the wheel axles in a weighed down or unloaded condition.
 
Baseleg Opening - Measurement between the inside of the baselegs, from the narrowest point.
 
Batching - A compilation of several orders zoned for optimum pick rate, which are sorted at a centralized location.
 
Bi-directional - The term given to a vehicle, which is equipped for forward and reverse travel.
 
Carriage - A support structure for forks or attachments, generally roller mounted, which travels vertically within the mast of a fork truck.
 
Carts - Used to hold or transport items selected to fill an order condition, often customized to meet particular needs.
 
Carton Clamp - Hydraulic operated blade attachment that is fitted to forklift trucks and allows handling of cartons without the use of pallets.
 
Deck - One or more boards comprising the top or bottom exterior of a pallet.
 
Drivers Cabin - Protects the driver of a forklift truck from weather conditions when outdoors or in a cooler or freezer or falling elements indoors.
 
Dwell Time - Total stop time spent at pick front.
 
Forks - Horizontal projections suspended from the carriage to support loads.
 
Load Center Horizontal - The distance, horizontally, from the fork face and fork heel intersection, to the center of gravity of the load.
 
Load Center Vertical - The distance, vertically, from the carrying surface of the fork to the center of gravity of the load.
 
Load Wheel - Referring to reach and straddle trucks, those wheels that are located in the baselegs.
 
Lowering Speed - The velocity in FPM of the lowering load carriage in its operating range, for loaded and empty conditions.
 
Module - The device or container objects are deposited in or on by the one who picks.
 
Outside Turning Radius - Half the diameter of a circle made by the outermost projection of the truck.
 
Pallet - A carrying structure to support loads with stringers and decks with openings to allow pick up by a fork truck. (http://www.plastic-pallets.net)
 
Pick - The process of locating, counting and retrieving an item for transportation to another area or for customer retrieval.
 
Rail - Part of a larger side guidance system used for forklift trucks. It also absorbs vehicle weights.
 
Reverse Steer - A steering option resulting in the vehicle turning to the right when steering wheel is turned counterclockwise and the operator is facing opposite the direction of the forks.
 
Sideshift - A very common lift truck attachment. The sideshift device allows the fork carriage to slide left and right to allow more precise placement of a cargo.  
 
Skid - A pallet having no bottom deck.
 
Stringer - Continuous, longitudinal, solid or notched beam section of the pallet used to support deck components, often recognized by location as the outside or center stringer.
 
Underwriters Laboratory Listing (UL) - A list of truck models that is used by insurance companies to determine the rates for coverage. The Underwriter`s Laboratories is an independent testing agency.
 
Wheel Loading - The measurement of the effect the truck axle loading has on the floor it operates on. The two types of it are: Force (concentrated reaction per tire, in pounds, exerted by wheel on the floor) and P.S.I. (the wheel loading, in pounds, divided by the wheel contact area in square inches).