Narrow Aisle Lift Trucks
Narrow Aisle Lift Trucks are electric trucks designed to function within narrow aisles. A counterbalanced lift truck could turn in the aisle as typical storage aisles are only 3.6 meters wide and this is enough space. Nevertheless, narrow aisles could be 2.4 meters wide to as little as 1.8 meters. The narrow space requires specific lift truck models that are small, capable of tight turns, can put away loads without turning. The common kinds of narrow-aisle trucks are turret trucks, order pickers and reach trucks.
Narrow-aisle reach trucks
The very first types of narrow-aisle lift trucks developed for warehouse applications are the reach trucks. These small trucks could easily turn in narrow aisles as their design has eliminated the requirement for a huge counterweight. Stability is instead provided by outrigger arms extending in front of the truck. The downside of this design is that the outrigger arms could hinder access to the storage rack since the truck cannot get close enough. These kinds of trucks work well inside a warehouse which is well lit, has even, clean floors, enough space for turning and good traffic flow.
Turret trucks
The turret truck design has pivoting forks on side of the truck. The forks pivot 90 degrees and move from side to side. The load faces forward whilst the operator drives down the aisle. When it stops at the designated storage place, the truck's forks turn 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 very narrow aisles. Operators remain at floor level in man-down trucks.