A three or four wheeled mechanical unit with forks at the front designed for lifting, carrying, and stowing cargo, pallets, or containers.
a high-lift, self-loading truck, equipped with load carriage and forks, for transporting and tiering loads
a powered industrial truck equipped with a mast and an elevating load carriage
a vehicle designed to pick up, carry, and stack unit loads of supplies and equipment
A forklift truck, a lift truck or a forklift is a powered industrial truck used to lift and transport materials, normally by means of steel forks inserted under the load. Forklifts are most commonly used to move loads stored on pallets. The forklift was developed in the 1920s by various companies including the transmission manufacturing company Clark (today known as Clark Material Handling Company) and the hoist company Yale & Towne Manufacturing (Today known as Yale Materials Handling Corporation)http://www.yale.com/ygl_history.asp?language=ENGLISH.
