Hand pallet trucks have traditionally been used to reduce the amount of effort and manpower required to move merchandise in a warehousing environment and to load and unload merchandise in urban commercial areas.
The disadvantage of these types of handling equipment is that the user must exert manual effort to maneuver the pallets of goods, making dangerously heavy pallets difficult to control on sloping surfaces and pedestrian streets.
The common solution has been the use of electrically powered pallet lifts that use traction batteries to control the driving and braking characteristics of the equipment. The electric lifting features on this type of equipment also reduce the manual effort required to lift goods through the pumping action required with this type of equipment.
However, the cost and size of electric pallet trucks have been a barrier for most small trucking companies in a very competitive market. This situation has now been addressed and brings with it the demise of the hand pallet truck.
New products on the market are now bridging the gap between the traditional type of lifting equipment and electrically operated pallet conveyors. Modern products from German manufacturers such as Hanselifter combine all the functions required of larger electric pallet trucks in a product no larger than a manually operated hand pallet truck. These smaller products improve productivity by allowing the user to move heavy pallets over 1.5 tons without any physical effort. Their smaller size makes them ideal for use in tight spaces, such as articulated truck trailers. Now a single operator can load/unload a full 40-foot trailer of cargo in less than 10 minutes.
The cost issue has also been addressed with these new electric mini pallet trucks, with an average cost of less than 50% of the cost of larger electric pallet trucks.
This advancement in handling equipment technology may herald the end of traditional hand pallet trucks and salvage the efforts of our trusted delivery drivers who keep our stores and supermarkets stocked with goods for us wary shoppers.
Additional benefits of these modern elevators are the economic advantages they bring to American and European manufacturers. A recent rise in low-priced, manually operated hoisting equipment imported into the US and Europe from the Far East has seen the market share of domestic hoisting equipment producers decline, however manufacturers from China The US and India, for example, have been slow to produce comparable technology-powered products to the same standard.
