What are reach trucks and how can they benefit your business?
Reach trucks are types of forklifts specifically employed to reach goods in an area that has high shelving and narrow aisles. Their most common applications include vast storage areas and warehouses. To optimise the use of space, shelves are usually stacked high, and racking is placed close together leaving little room for manoeuvre.
Unlike other kinds of forklifts, like the bulky counterbalance truck, reach trucks can access heights and places that are impossible for conventional equipment to get to.
With a relatively small body, and forks that can extend high into the air, reach trucks can look as if staying balanced might be a challenge. However, they have been designed for this very purpose. They have a small set of wheel rears and two outer legs allowing them to distribute the load which enhances their balancing abilities.
The reach truck wheels are positioned directly below the operator’s station. This provided it with an exceptionally tight turn radius and enables it to easily move into smaller areas where other trucks are unable to fit, while still reaching stock stored at height.
What are the business benefits of reach trucks?
As mentioned earlier, reach trucks allow warehouses to make efficient use of available space. The more room a storage space has, the more stock it can hold. As a result, costs for additional storage space are negated and warehouses can keep larger stockholdings, enabling them to enhance their performance as part of a supply chain. Able to reach high stacks of items and handle neatly in confined areas, reach trucks allow warehouses to use tighter and taller racking layouts to achieve this goal.
Safety benefits can be gained from deploying these trucks. Traditional options like ladders and employees order picking create potential risk on-site associated with working at height. Reach trucks avoid these issues, with forks collecting goods on behalf of the operator, who can examine goods via camera. Modern trucks are often fitted with sensors and automatic braking systems to avoid accidents.
Along with preventing health and safety hazards, reach trucks also promote safer material handling ensuring less damage to stock and loss of profits.
Exceptionally efficient and agile, trucks can improve productivity and enhance workflow. Ensuring stock is sourced, collected, and then delivered where it needs to get to within a warehouse, reach trucks are an ideal solution for any operation seeking to succeed.
Cutting-edge reach trucks from CAT
Reach trucks are constantly evolving with leading manufacturers like CAT continually adding features to improve their capabilities. CAT Forklifts are always designed to maximise profitability and performance while cutting costs for companies and safeguarding operators. The company’s NR-N2 range was developed to offer a reach truck to suit any situation and boast 11 different models.
While NR14-16N2L Light Reach Trucks can only carry loads of between 1.4 1.6 tonnes, they are easy to manoeuvre and highly dependable. At the other end of the scale, CAT’s heavy-dutyNR16-25N3 Reach Trucks can carry up to 2.5 tonnes. Regardless of the weight, they can manage, all trucks in the range benefit from innovative ergonomics, low maintenance requirements and high levels of energy efficiency.
A valuable asset for any enterprise
To sum up, this type of forklift truck offers enterprises the perfect combination of freedom of mobility and maximum height in terms of lift. While these might seem like simple tasks, they allow companies to increase the effectiveness of their storage facilities to enjoy significant savings. Additionally, the work rates and safety standards offered by this innovative equipment can ensure that operations remain compliant with health and safety regulations and operate at competitive production levels.
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