Toyota Forklift
Another one of the big brands that you might want to consider is Toyota Forklift. They make a wide range of products, and generally they fit in a couple of classes. They make normal forklifts, powered either by gas engines or electric ones. They also make several other related loading devices - some are hand-operated pallets, and there are some others that are "walkie" models in which you basically stand on the machine instead of sitting in a cab.
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Toyota Forklift
Here are the basic models available if you're looking for a Toyota Forklift:
Hand Pallet Trucks - Toyota makes these devices, which are basically the fork part of the forklift attached to a rod that you can wheel around and use to raise or lower the pallet load. They are mainly useful if you've got a small area to maneuver in, or are moving things back and forth over a short area. Because it doesn't take up anywhere near the space of a forklift, you can make your storage much more efficient by using one of these - you don't have to leave as much room empty to move around. One solution that works well for some people is to have a regular forklift for moving things back and forth between larger distances, while you use a hand pallet to move things out of and into the storage area itself. So basically, you would have a loading point outside of the storage building, move items there from storage using the hand pallet, and use a regular forklift to move them wherever else they need to go.
Internal Combustion Engine Forklifts - There are Toyota forklift models under this brand designed to be used with either gas, diesel, or lpg (liquified petroleum gas). This line generally has Toyota's heavier duty forklifts - there are some that go up to 40,000 pounds capacity, which is more than any under the electric motor version. The 7-Series is the main line here, and these forklifts are pretty good: they have a decent traveling speed (12-13 miles per hour) and they have some good high-tech features as well that make them a lot better for business efficiency. First, they've got a "System of Active Stability" which is a monitoring system designed to lock the forklift in place if it risks a tipover. This is great both from a safety perspective and a business perspective - if you've ever lost an entire pallet of something fragile to a tipover, you'll appreciate this. Second, they've got a leveling system for the loads that will keep the forks level with the ground. This keeps loads from slipping off and stops damage to your storage racks. Third, it's got a design that is set up so you can view most of what you're doing from the cab. In some forklifts, you can't see the tip of the fork while you're operating it - the Toyota ones allow you to do this, which allows for more accuracy and less mistakes.
Electric Engine Forklifts - There are also models that are based on electric engines. They have pretty much the same features as the gas-powered ones - the only difference is that they are slightly slower, but are much cheaper to operate because they don't rely on gas. It's a tradeoff, but it can be well worth it if you've got large gas bills every month that you can get rid of.
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