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Pallet trucks are one of the most commonly used pieces of equipment in many places of work across the country. They transport products from loading bays to distribution areas; they keep materials flowing through a workplace and can be described as a crucial cog in the overall machinery of a warehouse, factory or other industrial environment. From the largest warehouses of the most established brand names to the smallest workshops of the local businesses, pallet trucks are carrying out the everyday tasks that make every business tick.

It is for this reason that companies of all sizes need to fully informed of the needs of their workforce when purchasing new pallet trucks or adding to an existing fleet. Getting the right regular hand pallet truck can have a great effect on the efficiency of many working environments. Choosing the right size can often come down to calculating which of the existing pallet trucks are used the most by employees in the workplace; the ones that see the most use are most likely to need replacement or a backup. If purchasing the first pallet trucks in what is expected to be a fully functioning and successful fleet, the following guide simplifies the process of choosing a size depending on the pallets that will be used:

UK – If most of the goods which pass through the warehouse or distribution centre are from the UK, the pallets which will be used will be the standard UK size; 1000mm x 1200mm. The hand pallet trucks which deal with these types of pallets measure in at 680mm x 1000mm and are perfectly proportioned to handle the vast majority of common pallets.

Euro – The only difference between the Euro pallet trucks and the UK pump trucks is a slight variance in size. The smaller fork to fork width (540mm as opposed to 680mm) is ideally constructed to lift pallets which come from the continent; the length remains the same at 1000mm but extra-long variations are available to alter the capabilities of these trucks.

Printer – Generally only used in the printing and publishing industries, these trucks are a relative anomaly in most workplaces but are still useful to have around for special cases. The fork to fork width of these trucks is the smallest, measuring just 450mm across, but the standard 1000mm fork length remains the same.

Following these basic guidelines will ensure that the right size is chosen for the right purpose, and will guarantee many years of productivity.

A brand new piece of apparatus has recently been added to the extensive range of materials handling equipment at Pallet Trucks UK. The Salter heavy-duty weigh beam with 5000kg capacity is a great alternative to static weighing scales and can drastically streamline working processes on the factory floor.

Where items are difficult to manoeuvre or situated in a tight spot, weigh beams are used to weigh them efficiently and easily. Highly portable and easy to use, the brand new Salter weigh beams can be used to record the weight of everything from pallets to long lengths of pipe, with provisions for awkwardly shaped cargo or unwieldy loads that are difficult to weigh or transport using a pallet truck.

Many workplaces across rely on weighing systems in order for their logistics to function efficiently. Deliveries often need to be weighed, and their statistics logged, before they can enter the redistribution sector. Goods which will be stored must be weighed in order to calculate how many can be held within a certain shelving unit, and weight restrictions on pallet trucks need to be considered when there are goods to be transported.  In some of these cases, a weighing scale pallet truck or a set of static scales are not appropriate; space limitations can restrict movement and certain loads may be more difficult to manoeuvre than others. For these occasions, weigh beams are an efficient and simple alternative.

The brand new Salter beams available from Pallet Trucks UK come pre-calibrated and are simple to set up and use straight out of the box. They are designed specifically for ease of use, with large LCD displays showing 1-inch high digits which can be read clearly from average distances. A mains-rechargeable battery gives the beams the power and the display unit the power it needs to function, and also provides the portability which makes the beams so effective. They take up so little space and require so little effort to use, with each beam weighing in at just 16.5kg, that they are a powerful, time-saving addition to any workplace.

The beams are powder coated and the head display unit is stainless steel encased, making these weigh beams tough enough for for use in environments where they might encounter adverse conditions, such as factories, distribution centres or warehouses. A powder coating helps to protect the beams from rust and corrosion, ensuring that they will remain in prime condition for many years to come. Two beams are provided in each set so that wide items can be weighed quickly and easily, and stability is offered through rubber feet on the underside of the beams. Time and space are two of the most important constraints upon any business’ resources, and they can both be improved upon with the use of the new Salter weigh beams.

Pallet Trucks UK have announced their latest stock additions will be a series of reconditioned and used pallet trucks, ideal for those organisations who want the benefit of a pump truck on a second hand budget.

Phil Chesworth, from Pallet Trucks UK said, “There are many different reasons why a business might be looking to purchase a reconditioned pallet truck. Economic conditions have hit an all-time low, and budget restrictions might force them into searching for more cost-effective manual handling solutions. A business which is just starting out might not have the start-up funds to budget for a whole fleet of new trucks. Companies in some stage of transition might only require their trucks for a limited amount of time, and therefore would be wasting money by splashing out on brand new ones. There might even be a call to test-run an extra batch of pallet trucks to see how useful they would be without laying out huge sums. Whatever the reason might be for purchasing a second-hand pallet truck, there are many advantages to consider.

How important is it to purchase important workplace equipment from respected and trusted dealers? The Healthy and Safety Executive reports that manual occupations, meaning those which make use of hand pallet trucks and other manually operated equipment, have the highest rate of workplace injury, and in many instances it is down to poor equipment from second-hand dealers. RIDDOR reports indicate that 3 in 10 of all injury reports in workplaces are down to manual handling, with an estimated 1.2 million days of work lost as a result of these injuries.

Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Pallet Trucks UK, a premier provider of equipment to the manual handling industry, says, “Buying from a trusted dealer with a reputation for quality is essential when purchasing equipment that is going to be used by the majority of the workforce. Not only could a faulty pallet truck put staff at risk, it would also decrease productivity and in the case of it breaking altogether, it would cost a lot to replace. It is crucial to check the credentials of any suppliers before purchasing to ensure the safety and productivity of your workforce.

Pallet trucks are ubiquitous in warehouse and factory environments, and have been for many years, and so ensuring that the fleet is top of the range and able to fulfil its duties as effectively as possible is vital. This often involves purchasing new apparatus. The potential benefits of investing in a new range of equipment are clear and obvious for any manager or owner, but the real issue when tackling this question is whether the initial investment will cut costs, maximise profits and streamline working processes across the whole business. But how does the purchase of new equipment help to facilitate these changes?

One of the first ways in which purchasing a new hand pallet truck, or replacing a large number of trucks within an existing fleet, is the effect is has on any employees who have to use these trucks every day. New trucks, often with new capabilities such as a weighing scale or a traverse action for narrow aisles, allow employees to carry out a higher volume of work than they did before, with less effort than they previously would have had to apply. Productivity is raised significantly when new trucks are brought in, and the morale boost it has for the staff working with brand new equipment cannot be overestimated.

Purchasing new trucks and lifting aids also contributes to the safety of the workforce. Where products were initially lifted by hand and loaded onto a truck, they can now be lifted with the help of machinery, preventing common issues such as serious back strain and repetitive strain injury. Sicks days and injury pay can account for a lot of a business’ wage bill, not to mention costly insurance claims or even compensation pay-outs that come from employee injuries; it is important to ensure that equipment is on top form to minimise the risks of these events occurring.

Not only does new equipment boost the speed of the working processes of the employees, it also invariably an improvement on the equipment it replaces. The newer hand pallet trucks, lifting aids and manual stacker trucks often have more lifting capacity for goods, and they don’t require the maintenance that the older trucks will have needed. Using trucks which are fit for purpose is an important element of getting the most out of a workforce, which can lead to improved productivity, lower costs and higher profits overall.

With an already extensive range of pallet trucks to choose from, Pallet Trucks UK have taken their status as one of the UK’s premier providers of lifting and handling equipment even further with the launch of a brand new hand pallet truck with nylon wheels. The truck is identical to other pallet trucks in many ways, with the resounding difference being the wheels, including the steering wheel. Regular pallet truck wheels are made from PU, but the nylon tires on this new model offers many convenient advantages that will benefit the purchasing business as a whole.

The main benefits are evident in the workplace itself. A honed level of performance in certain environments will improve overall performance to no end. These types of pallet trucks are essential for the workplaces where offshoots of metal or swarf may damage ordinary tires. Machine shops, repair workshops, manufacturing plants and other such businesses can put an end to their pallet trucks’ wheels failing, as these nylon tires are tough and much more hardwearing than the standard tire. Environments where oil, water or other liquids may affect the surface also leave the nylon wheels unaffected, improving their overall performance under tough conditions. One of the most common reasons for a PU tire disintegrating quickly or becoming damaged is the corrosion it also may face in a workplace; the nylon wheels don’t have this issue.

The knock-on effect of this improved performance in the workplace means that maintenance or repair budgets are boosted because businesses are not required to constantly repair or completely replace a pallet truck when the PU tyres fail. This leaves more money to invest in other equipment to take the business to the top of the competitive pile, and can even contribute to a higher level of profit in general. This is especially important in the volatile financial environment we live in, when companies are looking to save money in every area that they possibly can.

The single disadvantage that the nylon tyres have in comparison with their PU counterparts is their noise levels over concrete or uneven floors. If near-silent operation is a priority for a warehouse or factory, Pallet Trucks UK’s expansive range of trucks with PU tyres offer quiet operation and have a wide variety of specialist features, including traverse trucks, rough terrain trucks and trucks with extra length in the forks. The new trucks with nylon wheels are simply the latest addition to a range which fulfils any demands that someone looking for equipment might have.

Since coming into use in the early half of the 20^th century, pallet trucks have been an absolute staple in warehouses. In an industry which is entirely predicated on moving potentially heavy or awkwardly-shaped cargo from one place to the next, it has always been vital that these processes are carried out in the most efficient manner possible. Hand pallet trucks cut the time and the manpower which is required to carry out these tasks, streamlining the process considerably, saving space and boosting productivity across the board. The everyday running of a warehouse relies almost entirely on the fleet of pallet trucks, and as years have passed, there have been many improvements made to the traditional pump truck in order to stay ahead of the curve.

Order picking in a warehouse can be a time-consuming process when carried out with a simple pallet truck and an operator. Back and shoulder strains are common complaints across workforces, and the constant bending and stretching to pick orders from storage and place them on the static pallet slows down the task considerably. Electric high-lift trucks are a great way to streamline this process; the pallet can be raised to a convenient working height for the operator, reducing the risk of injuries to employees and speeding up the action itself. Reducing the amount of manual labour required in the loading and unloading aspect of each task ensures efficiency across the warehouse and means that a higher volume of work can be carried out in a shorter space of time.

Many warehouses also utilise manual stackers as part of their fleet. These trucks make the everyday actions of moving, lifting, loading and unloading much faster and simpler for operators. Because of the smaller size and weight of manual stacker trucks, they are a more economical solution than costly forklift trucks, which also require a lot of staff training and risk assessment to be able to operate. Warehouses with long, narrow aisles or with space limitations in their storage facilities will often choose manual stackers because of their slim construction and ability to function in smaller spaces. Precision-engineered, these trucks make aisle space much less of an issue, potentially allowing more room for goods in the warehouse and changing the way a company utilises the space they have.

Keeping track of the weight of certain items and loads is a vital aspect of running a warehouse, and so many choose to add a weighing scale pallet truck to their arsenal of apparatus. These trucks quickly weigh cargo on the move for higher efficiency levels, and they have a maximum error margin of less than 0.1%, even when situated on an uneven floor. LCD display units allow users to read the measurements even in the dimmest conditions, and the weight system can be switched between imperial and metric system to suit whichever the operator is most comfortable with.  These handy trucks can save employees a lot of time in transporting goods from one area of a warehouse to another; rather than taking them first to a static scale and loading and unloading them to check the weight, they can find out these measurements on the move.

Since its invention in the early 20th century, the hand pallet truck has proven itself time and again as one of the most important pieces of equipment in many workplaces. Their versatility and durability means they can be used for a variety of different purposes over long periods of time and they have served many businesses well for decades. UK Pallet Trucks is one of the largest pallet truck retailers in the UK with a truck to suit a range of specific requirements and environments.

In certain workplaces, extra reinforcement is often required to protect not only the equipment, but the cargo that is being transported. Galvanized pallet trucks have been specially created to withstand even the harshest of conditions, including the freezing temperatures found in industrial freezers and the wet surroundings that are a feature at docks and ports. These types of trucks are also popularly used in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, as they can withstand large amounts of harsh chemicals without corrosion; a useful feature when much of the equipment in such workplaces has to be completely sterile.

In working environments such as building sites, agricultural areas, garden centres or any workplace with an outdoor area, the ground can often be uneven and difficult to manoeuvre a truck across. Undulating surfaces and pallet trucks loaded full of cargo are a recipe for a health and safety disaster, and so it is important for businesses in this situation to ensure they have the appropriate truck for the job. A rough terrain pallet truck has pneumatic tyres which help to keep the cargo as steady as possible when crossing unsteady surfaces, thus keeping operating staff safe and the goods undamaged. Easy movement and control over difficult surfaces is afforded by a 210 degree turning radius, and the adjustable forks combined with a high capacity of 1200kg allow for manipulation of awkwardly shaped loads.

A traverse pallet truck is another example of a slightly altered pump truck which has been adapted for a very different purpose. In warehouses or distribution centres which often feature narrow aisles and passageways, it is important that a truck should be able to manoeuvre unobstructed. Traverse pallet trucks move sideways rather than forwards and backwards and offer an element of flexibility regarding the transportation of cargo from one area to another. These types of truck can also double up as a regular pallet truck when their traverse capabilities are not needed; in sideways mode they can carry up to 1500kg and when being used as a normal pallet truck this increases to 2500kg.

When the market for automated handling equipment such as manual stacker trucks and lift tables experienced a sharp fall in 2009, it was expected that the industry would take a few years to repair itself. The country was in the grip of recession and businesses were struggling to get back on track, causing experts to predict a long and slow road back to growth and progression for automated handling equipment. But despite the worrying dip, and the country’s inability to escape the recession, it is now predicted that growth will be seen in this sector over the next few years, helped in no small part by George Osborne’s recent Autumn Statement.

The Autumn Statement contained, among many actions supporting small businesses, a business bank worth £1bn, and a huge leap on tax relief on plant and machinery; from £25,000 to a quarter of a million pounds worth of investment from January onwards. The encouraging initiatives are intended to coax businesses into investing in new equipment, especially those in the manufacturing industry, who are large proponents of automated handling equipment. The amount businesses can invest tax free, in equipment such as pallet trucks and lift tables, will increase tenfold and aid the industry’s careful steps on the road to recovery.

Indeed, since 2009, the market has exceeded expectations despite adverse economic conditions and widespread financial uncertainty. Those in the manufacturing industry have experimented with ways in which they can optimise working space using narrow aisle traverse trucks, and have tried to streamline working processes by bringing in new fleets of weighing scale pallet trucks. Though the Autumn Statement has aimed to encourage small to medium businesses to part with the billions of pounds in revenue that they are supposedly hoarding, it was actually these types of companies who were spending the most on such new equipment to hone their workplace.

It is thought that many businesses in the manufacturing industry currently shy away from total automation of their equipment, purely because trucks such as semi-electric stacker trucks are more flexible than their completely electric counterparts. The trucks have a manual aspect which allows employees to operate the machinery, spotting mistakes or errors that might be missed with a solely automated system. The most successful trucks in this volatile time have been the ones which combine electric capabilities with manual controls, such as aerial work platforms which rise to heights of up to three metres, allowing employees to carry out maintenance and work at height. As it stands, the industry relies on such apparatus, and growth in the sector will continue to grow steadily after a possible spark from Mr Osborne’s new schemes.

The first recorded uses of the hand pallet truck date back to the last decades of the 19^th century, when the industrial revolution was in full swing. The multitude of factories, warehouses and manufacturing plants which were popping up all over the world needed to find new, efficiency ways to meet demand and transport their goods around workplaces which were increasing in size. A crude and basic low-lift hand pallet truck was invented in 1887 which would elevate a pallet (or a ‘skid’) a few inches from the floor by manual means. It would not yet facilitate the movement of goods from one place to another. Some years later, in 1909, a new version was crafted, made entirely from steel, and offering the same premise; minimal lifting and minimal movement. These early lifting trucks had platforms rather than forks, and so they were not initially used for lifting pallets, but rather just for goods themselves.

The high-lift pallet truck was introduced at the end of the 20th century’s first decade, and by 1926, pump trucks and pallet jacks started to resemble the trucks we know today. Pallets were more prevalent as a way of moving large volumes of goods, and the lifting tables of the older models gave way to forks designed to fit the pallets. The trucks which facilitated higher lifting also made it possible for factories and warehouses to stack pallets vertically when not in use and dramatically improve the efficiency of their storage systems.

World War II during the 1940s saw pallets become a key component of logistics strategies across the world; rationing food, supplying aid and even transporting equipment for soldiers. This urgent demand for even more efficiency saw developments in the pallets themselves, such as four-way entry, which in turn saw more developments in the uses of pallet trucks. Once the war was over, the progress that had been made in the crafting and honing of hand pallet truck models filtered down from military use into commerce and allowed factories and warehouses to become even more efficient than previously.

The progress of pallets and pallet trucks since then has been steady, with general admission from experts that certain approaches and methods will increase efficiency tenfold. However, one of the globe’s largest companies, Costco, threw a spanner into the works last year, shaking up the pallet world with the announcement that they would be shifting to ‘block pallets’. These types of pallets were essentially an improvement on the four-way pallets invented by a Navy Seal during WWII; rather than the pallet deckboards resting on ‘stringers’, they rest on sturdy blocks instead. Costco unload a million trucks every year, and a common complaint was that with the old four-way pallets, warehouse workers couldn’t fit the forks of their pallet jack into the pallet if they were facing the wrong side. The switch to ‘block pallets’ made it easier for their pallet trucks to function and illustrates that the world of manual handling and pallet trucks is always changing and evolving to produce the best results.