When it comes to arming your forklift fleet in any warehouse environment, an electric pallet truck is the modern way to go.
Electric pallet trucks are specially designed machines that can carry and move pallets around in a warehouse, available in both pedestrian and ride-on models.
It’s vital to plan out your business and operational needs, operational expenses budget, and whether an electric pallet truck is right for you. In this blog post, we will be outlining the different models of electric pallet trucks available, the different applications and uses for electric pallet trucks, the function of electric pallets and how to use them, the history of the electric pallet truck, and why they’ve grown in popularity recently.
Read on for our guide to the electric pallet truck, designed to help you understand the machine and why it will prove vital to most businesses.
The different models of electric pallet trucks
The modern alternative to diesel-powered pallet trucks, the electric version is more environmentally friendly, sustainable, and cheaper to run. It is available in a number of models, including in the Doosan and EP ranges.
EP Equipment focuses on the electrical innovation of machinery, dedicated to building simple yet powerful tools to support the daily operations in your business at a reasonable expenses rate.
Doosan Forklifts is the world’s leading value forklift brand, committed to designing and constructing durable technology with high specification features.
The different applications that electric pallet trucks are used in
Electric pallet trucks are specially designed to carry and transport pallets around your warehouse. They make a fantastic choice for small spaces and function best when used for applications such as stock floor replenishment, loading pallets into lorries, or transporting pallets across longer distances.
When you use an electric pallet truck, you’ll notice that the total cost of ownership, like the diesel-fuelled pallet truck, is a case of balancing the initial cost with the fuel costs. Electricity, unlike diesel, will tend to prove much cheaper and efficient despite the greater upfront cost.
Not only do electric pallet trucks have lower energy consumption and lower CO2 emissions, but they also produce less noise pollution and are less likely to break down because they contain fewer moving parts.
The function of electric pallet trucks and how they’re used
A ride-on electric pallet truck functions through the operation of the machine by someone standing on the platform to the rear of the truck. Here, they are able to drive it via a steering wheel, buttons, and lever.
Whereas the non-ride-on electric pallet truck is designed for smaller distances, the ride-on functions by giving the operator more control to navigate large floor spaces and often come fitted with folding platforms to enable multi-function as a narrow walkie pallet truck.
The history of the electric pallet truck
Before the 1920s, most goods were stored in barrels and crates, transported and shifted on an individual basis. This made the whole process incredibly time-consuming and often dangerous because these containers could not be safely moved by cranes.
To rectify this, the skid was invented. This single deck wooden platform was used as a flat base to store goods. As this evolved, it become a double-deck platform – the pallet.
With this innovation, the contemporary manual hoisting gear was adapted into a hand pallet truck across Europe and the US. As mechanisation and technology improved, this became the powered lift truck.
The rise in popularity of the electric pallet truck
As warehouses and workplaces face growing demand and a 24/7 marketplace, it has been necessary for pallet trucks to adapt, evolve, and rise in popularity.
These environments need vehicles that are able to function for longer and in challenging situations, able to work many hours before recharging, function both indoors and outdoors, in any type of weather, and tolerate hot and cold storage. It has also proved vital that modern pallet trucks can boast sustainability and consciousness in relation to the planet and pollution.
Electric pallet trucks were engineered as the universal answer.
For more information, get in touch with our dedicated customer service team or browse our collection of electrical pallet trucks today.