Narrow Aisle Lift Trucks
Narrow Aisle Lift Trucks are electric trucks designed to operate within narrow aisles. Typical storage aisles are just 3.6 meters wide, enough space for a counterbalanced lift truck to turn in the aisle. Nevertheless, narrow aisles could be 2.4 meters wide to as little as 1.8 meters. The narrow space requires specific kinds of lift trucks that are small, capable of tight turns, and able to put away loads without turning. The popular kinds of narrow-aisle trucks are reach trucks, turret trucks and orderpickers.
Narrow-aisle reach trucks
Reach trucks were the first narrow-aisle lift truck to be manufactured for warehouse applications. These small trucks can easily turn within narrow aisles because their design has eliminated the requirement for a huge counterweight. Stability is instead provided by outrigger arms which extend in front of the truck. The downside of this design is that the outrigger arms can inhibit access to the storage rack because the truck cannot get near enough. These trucks work well inside a warehouse that is well lit, has even, clean floors, ample turning space and good flow of traffic.
Turret trucks
The turret truck design has turning forks on side of the truck. The forks pivot 90 degrees and move from side to side. The load could face forward while the operator drives down the aisle. When stopped at the designated storage place, the forks of the truck pivot to the storage side and raise the load to their full extension, and then easily deposit the load before resuming their original position. Turret trucks could come with a wire guidance system that keeps the truck on its path in really narrow aisles. In man-down trucks, operators remain at floor level.