What Is an Electric Pallet Truck?
Electric pallet trucks, as the name implies, are electrically powered lifts and traveling trucks used to carry pallets.
Also called electric hand lifts (hand forks), it is a rapidly growing field in the logistics-related market worldwide amid the current trend toward EVs in automobiles.
Electric pallet trucks do not require the same qualifications and experience as regular forklifts and are widely accepted in today’s logistics industry, which is suffering from a shortage of qualified forklift operators and an aging workforce.
Uses of Electric Pallet Trucks
Electric pallet trucks are widely used in logistics and warehouses for their ability to accurately and smoothly lift, lower, and transport pallets, even in confined spaces.
Electric pallet trucks, which are capable of self-propulsion, have been introduced to meet the needs of heavy pallet lifting, lowering, and carrying, including self-propulsion.
Principle of Electric Pallet Truck
Generally, electric pallet trucks are not like forklifts, in which the operator rides on the truck and uses the arms on the forks to move the pallets in and out of the truck. This means that even inexperienced on-site operators do not need special forklift qualifications, and the trucks are motorized and relatively easy to operate.
Note that forklifts with a maximum loading capacity of 1 ton or more require “forklift operation skills training,” which includes practical skills and a test.
The lifting part is similar to a forklift truck, with two parallel forks (jaws) placed at the bottom of the pallet. Electric pallet trucks come in a wide range of models, but most are usually capable of handling pallet loading weights from 1 to 2 tons. However, hand lifts, whether electric or manual, have a narrower distance between the forks. Additionally, some pallets cannot be handled depending on their type, for example, in the case of wooden pallets. It is important to check well in advance whether the types of pallets that can be used and the loading weight are compatible with the actual on-site application.
Incidentally, there are various types of electric drive units, such as those that can be recharged at a 100V household outlet with a dedicated charger, and models equipped with lithium-ion batteries.