In warehousing, factory production, distribution centers and e-commerce sorting facilities, pallet trucks (pallet jacks) are indispensable material handling equipment. They handle short-distance pallet transportation, daily goods turnover and warehouse replenishment efficiently. Many warehouse managers and business owners make wrong purchasing decisions: choosing low-cost manual pallet trucks blindly leads to high labor consumption, or overinvesting in high-end electric models that waste budget and fail to work in narrow aisles.
A warehouse is a place meant for storage of a variety of products, before transporting them to their final destination. An efficient warehouse allows products to be lifted and moved easily from one place to another and this requires some essential tools known as material handling equipment (MHE). Having adequate and right equipment not only simplifies the life of working staff but also reduces the backbreaking strain they would otherwise suffer.
This guide breaks down all common forklift types based on official WITS classification standards, covering Class 1 to Class 6 forklifts. Learn the differences between electric warehouse forklifts, counterbalance forklifts, and internal combustion forklifts to pick ideal equipment for your warehouse, factory and logistics handling applications.