Like mechanical packhorses, industrial trucks transport equipment and materials throughout your company, from office and shop floor to warehouse and assembly line. You can own a truck for nearly every job: from basic pallet and deck trucks to drum or pipe trucks with special cradles and recycling trucks for scrap removal.

Manufacturers construct industrial trucks with a wide variety of specifications to match the diverse tasks they perform. You can measure trucks by load capacity, or how much weight they can carry; dimensions, particularly if you need trucks with a narrow track; construction material, from wood and plastic to aluminum and steel; and tire type, whether air-filled for better cushioning and traction or solid for lower maintenance. Use these specifications to flesh out which type of truck you need, by workload:

1. Light-duty trucks or carts for office work or lightweight, bulky loads

2. Medium-duty industrial trucks for basic plant floor assistance or smaller loads

3. Heavy-duty trucks for serious lifting and transport in a warehouse or lumber yard

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy light-duty trucks through an industrial truck distributor or producer

Buy narrow-width hand trucks made of lightweight plastic or wood for easy maneuverability, to help move single items or lightweight materials that are bulky or 'fly-away' and hard to control by hand.

I recommend: CECOR produces narrow trash trucks you can easily maneuver to haul away scrap. Global Industrial distributes hand trucks, including a three-way convertible, plus replacement parts.

Contact an industrial truck manufacturer for medium-duty trucks

For materials too heavy or bulky to move by hand, use medium-duty trucks that apply small electric motors or hydraulics to leverage muscle power. Manufacturers also produce a number of specialty medium-duty trucks for unusually-shaped items that are too wide or bulky for regular hand trucks to transport.

I recommend: American Lifts produces the Little Mule line of 2.5 ton hydraulic pallet trucks. Hamilton Caster produces a range of specialty trucks, such as a-frame trucks for sheet glass or plywood, trucks that handle drums, bars and cylinders, or chair and table trucks.

Employ self-propelled industrial trucks for heavy lifting

Heavy-duty industrial truck manufacturers make motorized trucks for assembly line, warehouse and industrial yard work to move multi-ton parts or products from storage through production to final transport.

I recommend: Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks produces electric and internal combustion forklift trucks. Their "right on the money" page helps you select the right engine and tire combination as well as offers tips on effective fleet management. Yale Lift Trucks produces ride-in or motorized hand lift trucks powered by electric, gas or diesel engines.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Think through your in-house transport needs: what gets carried, where does it get stored, where does it go on the office or plant floor. Then exploit the plethora of available features to 'customize' your industrial truck(s) to fit your particular application. Options to choose include removable or tilting shelves, bins, security cages and special platforms; or the ability to collapse or stack to take up less space when they are not in use.