Forklift vs Stacker – Do These Two Well-Known Names Refer to the Same Equipment?

Forklifts enjoy enormous popularity and recognition among a wide range of users. They can commonly be found in many warehouses, halls, shopping centers, workplaces and enterprises. We can encounter two terms – forklifts and stackers. Are these interchangeable terms? Do they refer to the same equipment? Let’s take a close look at this issue. Curious? Let’s begin!

What is a forklift?

First, we should consider what a forklift is. Industrial trucks are wheeled mechanical vehicles equipped with motor drive. Above all, they provide invaluable assistance in activities related to short-distance transport and warehousing. Forklifts are powered by diesel engines, gasoline or electric motors. The equipment is operated using a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals, and a gearbox from a comfortable cabin with a seat.

Types of forklifts

We can distinguish three main types of forklifts: manual, internal combustion and electric. Moreover, we can also differentiate forklifts based on their method of operation and work. The most popular include lifting models and lifting trucks. Equipment dedicated to vertical and horizontal order picking as well as high-storage forklifts are also available.

Forklift vs stacker – is a forklift a stacker?

When browsing information or forklift offers, we can very often encounter the term stackers. People from the industry environment are perfectly familiar with the correlation between forklifts and stackers. However, for a certain group of people, it is not obvious whether there are differences between stackers and forklifts and what purposes they are used for.

In practice, a stacker is simply an interchangeable term for forklifts. Moreover, we can also encounter another interchangeable, colloquial term for these functional devices – “widlaki” (fork trucks). It’s no wonder then that under the term “forklifts” we can find information about stackers. However, it should be kept in mind that regardless of the term used, the offer or information concerns forklifts.

Where did the name “stacker” come from?

The word stacker derives from the word “stapel”. Stapel is a term for cargo that is arranged in layers, e.g. a stack of tiles, boards or bags. If we want to look at the verb “stacking”, which is also related to the name “stacker”, it defines an activity that involves arranging goods. We can therefore conclude that the term stacker is an old form of forklifts. Stackers were devices equipped with mechanical drive, and their scope of operation involved loading and reloading goods that were transported to ports by sea. For example, the task of a stacker was to transport goods from a ship to a warehouse, which significantly saved human labor.

Today, forklifts, or stackers, are among the most commonly encountered devices that constitute the so-called right hand in many branches of the economy. It’s worth knowing that forklift and stacker are terms for the same equipment.