What Is a Forklift Truck? Common Forklift Types and How They Work

A forklift truck, usually just called a forklift, is a powered industrial vehicle built to lift, lower and carry loads on a pair of fork arms mounted to a vertical mast. Quotor groups forklifts within the broader material handling equipment range, with conventional forklifts, rough terrain forklifts and telehandlers separated into practical subcategories based on how they lift and move loads, distinct from loaders that lift and carry on a bucket rather than a mast or boom. Forklifts appear anywhere goods need loading, moving or stacking quickly: warehouses, construction sites, ports and manufacturing plants.

What Forklift Size Do I Need? Forklift Dimensions and Weight Capacity

A forklift’s job looks simple: pick a load up, move it, put it down. Getting the size wrong makes that simple job expensive in one direction or another. A machine rated below the load stalls or, worse, tips. One rated well above it burns more fuel, costs more per hour to hire, and can be too wide for the racking or doorway it needs to pass through. This guide breaks forklift size down into what actually matters: rated capacity, physical dimensions, lift height, and the site conditions that decide which class fits the job.

Guide to Rough Terrain Forklift: Terrain Types & Certification

Built for ground a standard warehouse forklift can’t handle, mud, loose fill, slopes and unsealed construction sites, Quotor’s range of rough terrain forklifts spans 2WD, 4WD and compact configurations. This guide covers how they work, where they’re used, and what to weigh up before hiring one.