Manual forklifts

Hand carts play a major role in domestic and professional life, and there are few areas where they are not present. Can you imagine a supermarket without a shopping cart, a station concourse without a luggage cart, an airport without a trailer, a hospital without a service cart, etc.?

At present, the number of manual forklifts in France is estimated at between 15 and 20 million, including 8 million wheelbarrows and 4 million shopping carts.

This article examines three manufacturing criteria:

• number of wheels: one wheel for wheelbarrows; two wheels for hand trucks; three, four or more wheels for carts or trailers;

• the nature of the loads to be handled and where they will be used ;

• the different types of load-bearing structures.