Flurfördermittel
Also: Flurförderzeuge, FFM, Flurförderfahrzeuge, Intralogistikfahrzeuge, Förderfahrzeuge
AI-generated
Industrial trucks is a collective term for all devices and vehicles that transport, lift, or handle goods within facilities, warehouses, and production sites. It encompasses both manual aids and powered vehicles as well as automated systems.
Key facts
- Industrial trucks encompass all devices and vehicles for the internal transport, lifting, and handling of goods — from manual pallet jacks to autonomous vehicles.
- The choice of the right industrial truck depends directly on aisle widths, racking types, load weights, and operating hours, and cannot be decided in isolation from the overall warehouse concept.
- In addition to acquisition costs, maintenance, inspection obligations, power supply, and training requirements determine the true lifecycle costs of a fleet.
- Automated industrial trucks such as AGVs and AMRs require early integration into warehouse management and material flow systems.
- Safety requirements — such as personnel protection and zone concepts — must be addressed during layout planning, not after operations have begun.
What are industrial trucks?
Industrial trucks refers to all devices, vehicles, and systems used to transport, lift, or handle goods on warehouse floors, ramps, or storage aisles. The term is intentionally broad and includes both simple manual aids such as pallet trucks and hand pallet jacks, as well as powered vehicles such as counterbalance forklifts, reach trucks, and narrow-aisle forklifts. Tugger trains, tow tractors, and increasingly automated vehicles such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) also fall under this umbrella term. The term should be distinguished from the narrower term "industrial truck vehicle," which refers to a specific vehicle category defined by applicable standards.
Practical applications
In intralogistics, the choice of industrial trucks is a key factor in determining how efficiently goods and material flows operate. Several factors come into play:
- Layout requirements: Aisle widths, racking types, and ceiling heights determine which vehicle class can actually be used. Narrow-aisle forklifts, for example, require smaller aisle widths than counterbalance forklifts, but allow for greater stacking heights.
- Load types and weights: The units to be moved — pallets, wire mesh containers, long goods, or individual packages — influence the choice of load capacity, fork geometry, and attachments.
- Operating hours and power supply: For multi-shift operations, charging technology, battery capacity, or hydrogen drive systems are relevant. Whether lead-acid, lithium-ion, or other technologies are used depends on the vendor and operation, and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
- Degree of automation: Manual, semi-automated, and fully automated industrial trucks can be combined in many facilities. Integration with warehouse management systems and material flow computers is a decisive factor in this context.
Key selection criteria
When procuring and operating industrial trucks, total cost of ownership is of primary importance alongside acquisition costs. Maintenance intervals, spare parts availability, inspection obligations under applicable accident prevention regulations, and training requirements for operators should be factored into planning at an early stage. Fleet standardization — i.e., reducing to as few vehicle types from one or a small number of manufacturers as possible — simplifies maintenance and spare parts management, but may limit flexibility. For growing operations, it is advisable to account for peak load scenarios and future layout changes from the outset, as retrofitting during ongoing operations can be costly. Safety aspects such as personnel protection systems, driver assistance, and zone separation between vehicle and pedestrian traffic cannot be added retrospectively during layout planning — they must be conceived from the very beginning.
Related terms
- AGV
AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) refers to driverless transport vehicles that automatically move goods in warehouses and production environments. They follow predefined or sensor-controlled routes without a human driver.
- AMR
AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) is a driverless, self-navigating transport robot that moves goods within a warehouse without any fixed installed infrastructure. It orientates itself independently using sensors and digital maps, and dynamically avoids obstacles.
- Ameise oder Hubwagen
A pallet truck (colloquially known as a "pump truck" or "hand truck"
- Automatisches Kleinteilelager (AKL)
The Automated Small Parts Warehouse (AKL) is a fully automated storage system for totes, trays and small parts, in which storage and retrieval operations are performed without manual intervention by stacker cranes or shuttle systems.
- Automatisierung
Automation refers to the use of technologies and systems to execute processes fully or partially without human intervention. In intralogistics, the spectrum ranges from simple conveyor systems to fully automated high-bay warehouses with autonomous vehicles.
- Blocklager
A block storage system is a storage method in which load units — typically pallets — are stacked directly on the floor in rows and blocks without any racking structure.
- Bodenlagerung
Floor storage refers to the storage of goods directly on the floor, without the use of racking systems. Pallets, stacks, or marked floor positions serve as the basic structure for area organization.
- Chaotische Lagerhaltung
Chaotic storage is a warehousing principle in which items are not stored in fixed, pre-assigned locations, but are instead dynamically placed in any available, suitable slot in the warehouse. A warehouse management system handles the control and tracking of all storage locations.
- Distributionslager
A distribution center is a type of warehouse that consolidates goods and prepares them for targeted delivery to customers, branches, or downstream locations.