Front-loading forklifts are four-wheel forklifts with a fork carriage at the front and a counterweight at the rear. The term is generally used synonymously with ‘counterbalance forklift’ and is by far the most common type used in industry and logistics.
Variants include diesel front-loading forklifts (for outdoor use, heavy loads up to over 25 tonnes), LPG front-loading forklifts (compact indoor-outdoor dual-purpose), electric front-loading forklifts (emission-free, increasingly powerful) and heavy-duty front-loading forklifts for container and steel handling.
Common manufacturers include Linde, Still, Toyota, Jungheinrich, Hyster, Yale, Crown, Mitsubishi Forklift, Hyundai and Komatsu.
Front-loading forklifts are used universally in warehouses, distribution centres, production facilities, industry, wholesale, at loading bays, in sawmills, in ports and wherever pallets and heavy loads need to be moved.