Narrow Aisle Lift Trucks
The kind of electric truck that is designed to function within narrow aisles is called a Narrow Aisle Lift Truck. A counterbalanced lift truck could turn in the aisle since standard storage aisles are only 3.6 meters wide and this is adequate space. Nevertheless, narrow aisles can be around 2.4 meters wide to as little as 1.8 meters. The narrow space needs specialized kinds of lift trucks that are capable of tight turns, small, could put away loads without turning. The common types of narrow-aisle trucks are order pickers, reach trucks and turret trucks.
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 in narrow aisles because their design has eliminated the need for a big counterweight. Stability is instead provided by outrigger arms extending in front of the truck. The downside of this particular design is that the outrigger arms could hinder access to the storage rack since the truck cannot get near enough. These trucks truly work well within a warehouse that is well lit, has clean, even floors, ample space for turning and good flow of traffic.
Turret trucks
The turret truck design has pivoting forks on side of the truck. The forks turn 90 degrees and move from side to side. The load faces forward whilst the operator drives down the aisle. When stopped at the designated storage location, the truck's forks turn to the storage side and lift the load to their full extension, and next smoothly deposit the load prior to resuming their original position. Turret trucks could come with a wire guidance system that keeps the truck on its path in very narrow aisles. In man-down trucks, operators remain at floor level.