BY TOBY GOOLEY, SENIOR EDITOR
LIFT TRUCKS
materialhandlingupdate
(Safely)
lifting you
higher and
higher
REACH FOR THE SKY … NO, WE’RE NOT TALKING
about gunslingers in the Wild West. Instead, that could be
the new mantra for warehouse and distribution center operators as they seek to maximize storage space by using high-bay
facilities with narrow aisles and racks that seem to get taller
by the year.
Lift truck manufacturers have designed electric-powered
equipment specifically for this high-density, often narrow-aisle and very-narrow-aisle, environment. Examples
include reach and stacker trucks, which keep the operator
on the ground while the forks and mast rise to the required height for pallet putaway and
retrieval, and order pickers and turret trucks, which lift the operator in a compartment or
on a platform into the racks for case or piece picking.
How high can they go? That varies greatly depending on the type of truck and the application, but the manufacturers we spoke with offer equipment with a total of 18 different
mast heights, ranging from 17. 5 feet to 59 feet. Several manufacturers said that customers
are asking to go still higher.
Because these lift trucks perform their work at such great heights, there are a number of
safety considerations associated with this type of equipment. Here’s a quick overview.
STABILITY IS NUMBER ONE
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) safety standard B56.1-2012, administered by the Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation (ITSDF), applies to
As high-density storage gains popularity,
more facilities are using high-lift forklifts, like
order pickers, turret trucks, and reach trucks.
This specialized equipment comes with its
own set of safety considerations.
