Industrial trucks - Selection criteria

Choosing a forklift truck is not simply a matter of determining a number of technical characteristics. It must often be the conclusion of a comprehensive study involving work organization and methods. This is particularly true of warehouse trucks, which are covered in the article , which explains how to choose a particular type of warehouse organization and the resulting equipment. The same applies to special-purpose trucks, covered in the article , are tailored to specific problems, and in the article provides the basis for choosing and setting up a towed material handling service.

Precise determination of load characteristics is the first step in choosing a forklift truck. It determines not only the capacity required, but also the characteristics of the equipment.

A complete analysis of the tasks to be carried out is essential to obtain a good ergonomic fit for the different jobs performed by the operator.

Environmental constraints, in particular, must also be identified at the outset of the study, as they determine the type of equipment to be chosen. Their number is determined on the basis of an analysis of the forecast workload.

Last but not least, self-propelled forklift trucks have a number of special features that need to be taken into account when making economic calculations.