Stand Up for Forklifts!

Everyone knows what a “forklift” is, right?  Sure, something that you “drive” like a car: you’re sitting down, the seatbelt’s engaged, there are forks out in front, there is a steering wheel (although it turns the two wheels at the back), and there are pedals to make things move.

More precisely, we call that a sit-down or “rider” counterbalanced lift truck. And to get around, racking systems need to be spaced far enough apart to make turning possible. And that means aisles are of a “standard” width, about 13 ft. (or 4m).

However, warehouses and distribution centres are increasingly adopting other kinds of lift trucks designed to work in aisles that are “narrow”, just about 10 ft. (or 3m). The aisles are narrow because the racks are closer together, in order to maximize storage density. And that’s because the cost of industrial “space” is rising, so warehouses and distribution centres need to store more and more goods in existing “footprints”.

One recent material handling industry article called this the “Narrow Aisle Imperative” [1].

Well, sit-down counterbalanced lift trucks can’t work in narrow aisles (there’s not enough room to make turning possible), so people need to be trained to operate those other kinds of lift trucks, and they require very different skills.

About Stand Up Operator Controls

Consider this:

• You are standing up, instead of sitting down. (And there’s no seatbelt.)
• You are standing “sideways”, with the forks to the right side instead of out in front. This means that when you turn your head to the right, you look forwards (at the forks). And when you turn your head to the left, you look backwards.
• The operator controls are not “car-like”.
  • There is no steering wheel. Instead, you steer by rotating a steering “tiller” clockwise or counter-clockwise with your left hand (using a steering wheel “knob”).
  • There are no pedals to make things move. Instead, there is a “Control Handle” for your right hand that moves in various ways, depending upon the particular Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

This means that you operate narrow aisle lift trucks using both hands at the same time and no feet, and your hands move in completely different ways.

But there are even more differences, because you’ll typically find two kinds of narrow aisle lift trucks:

• The (stand up) Reach Lift Truck works in the (narrow aisle) racking systems, with a mast that’s extra “tall” in order to work with shelves that are extra “high up”. And because the forks can extend and retract (that’s the “reaching”), the front end is equipped with special “outriggers”.
• The Stand Up Counterbalanced Lift Truck, sometimes called a “Dock Stocker”, also works in the (narrow aisle) racking systems too, but it can also load and unload trucks, trailers, and shipping containers.

At Simlog, we’ve been tracking this “narrow aisle imperative” [1] closely, and that’s why we now offer three kinds of Personal Simulators to help train people for:

• sit down counterbalanced “forklift” work
• stand up reach lift truck work
• stand up counterbalanced lift truck work

A Final Note

Many kinds of heavy equipment can be equipped with forks for material handling work, especially outdoors, and that’s why Simlog’s Skid Steer Loader and Wheel Loader Personal Simulators feature such functionality.

But working (indoors) with forks when you’re sitting down, is not at all like working (indoors) with forks when you’re standing up. And the “narrow aisle imperative” [1] means that it will be increasingly important to have training simulation for stand up work.

To comment on anything you read here, please write to “info@simlog.com” with “blog” in the Subject, to direct your message to me.

Other blog posts about Simulation for Training

References

[1] R. Michel, “Narrow Aisle Imperative: balance density with productivity”. Modern Materials Handling Magazine, July 8, 2024.