Narrow Aisle Lift Trucks
The kind of electric truck which is made to operate in narrow aisles is called a Narrow Aisle Lift Truck. Standard storage aisles are 3.6 meters wide, sufficient space for a counterbalanced lift truck to pivot in the aisle. Nonetheless, narrow aisles can be 2.4 meters wide to as little as 1.8 meters. The narrow area requires specialized lift truck models that are small, capable of tight turns, could put away loads without pivoting. The common kinds of narrow-aisle trucks are turret trucks, order pickers and reach trucks.
Narrow-aisle reach trucks
Reach trucks were the very first narrow-aisle lift truck to be developed for warehouse use. These small trucks can easily turn in narrow aisles since 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 inhibit access to the storage rack because the truck cannot get close enough. These types of trucks work well inside a warehouse which is well lit, has clean, even floors, good flow of traffic and ample space for turning.
Turret trucks
The design of a turret truck 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. Once 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 smoothly deposit the load before resuming their original position. Turret trucks could come with a wire guidance system which keeps the truck on its path in really narrow aisles. In man-down trucks, operators remain at floor level.