Forklift truck
Carretilla elevadora de horquilla
- Date
- 1917-1923 · confidence low
- Place
- Buchanan, Michigan, USA
- Credited to
- Clark Equipment, Yale & Towne and others
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An industrial vehicle with liftable forks that raises, moves and stacks loads on pallets. From Clark's Tructractor (1917) to Yale's mast models (1923), it simplified warehouse and port logistics.
The origin is disputed: platform trucks existed from 1906 (Pennsylvania Railroad) and Clark's Tructractor (1917) or the 1919 Towmotor are cited as first; the Yale mast version is attributed to 1923. Exact dates and places vary by source.
What it led to
- pallets and high-rise warehouses, with unit loads
- container logistics in ports and terminals
- assembly-line production in modern factories