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Logistics & Supply Chain vocabulary · Warehousing

Forklift

Meaning in logistics & supply chain, with examples

/ˈfɔːrklɪft/nounCore term

In logistics & supply chain, forklift means: A small powered vehicle with two metal arms at the front that slide under pallets to lift, move and stack heavy loads.

In Turkish: forklift, çatal kaldırıcı

How it is used

Also called a forklift truck or lift truck. Drivers need training and a licence or certificate; people talk about forklift drivers, forklift safety and loading a truck by forklift. A manual pallet truck is different: it lifts pallets only a few centimetres.

Example sentences

  1. Only certified staff are allowed to drive the forklifts.

  2. A forklift damaged two pallets while unloading the container.

Common collocations

  • forklift driver
  • forklift truck
  • forklift licence
  • forklift safety
  • palletA flat wooden or plastic platform on which goods are stacked so that they can be lifted by a forklift and moved, stored or shipped as one unit.
  • warehouseA large building where goods, materials or products are received, stored and prepared for shipment.
  • loading dockThe area of a warehouse with doors at truck-floor height where vehicles park to be loaded or unloaded.
  • put-awayThe step after receiving in which goods are moved from the dock to their storage locations and recorded in the system.

More terms: Warehousing

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