We are well and truly into 2020, but we’ve still got most of the new year left to go, and there’s plenty of development to come for the forklift industry. Here, we wanted to explore some of the forklift industry trends that are set to make more head-way in 2020…

Promising growth for the new decade

It’s fair to say that the industry is predicted to have more positive growth in the new decade. Especially given the positive figures seen at the end of the the last, with 2019  seeing overall sales increase by more than 35,000 units in the UK. Statistics from the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) have pointed towards a continued modest rise in the sector for this year. 

The first quarter of 2019 saw a 14.3% year-on-year peak for warehouse equipment bookings, which remained at around 0.7% for the other three quarters. The trend has continued, rising up to 2.2% for the present period. 

Autonomous trucks in warehouse facilities

Thanks to the steady evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), ILIAD (Intra-Logistics with Integrated Automatic Deployment) is allowing workers to safely operate alongside autonomous reach trucks in many warehouse environments. This innovative initiative is being developed as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 project.

Through the use of AI, these trucks will be able to collect data on the movement of humans in the working environment, in order to establish patterns of activity. This will help the automated forklifts tol recognise and therefore predict human behaviour and adapt to it accordingly.

More investment in electric

Diesel powered forklifts are still the most popular option when it comes to materials handling solutions. However, electric forklifts have continued to make strides in the sector. As the li-ion battery technology improves, it’s bringing big changes to electric handling equipment. 

For example, longer lasting batteries are allowing trucks to operate for a whole day without needing to be recharged. Making electric forklifts almost as efficient in terms of performance as their diesel-powered counterparts. All this invention in electric handling equipment is partly due to the climate emergency that requires action on greenhouse emissions.

At H&F Lift Trucks, we’ve got all the new or used forklift models you could ask for.

Please, contact us today on 0800 298 8790 for more information.