![]() Class 6: electric or internal combustion engine powered, rider units with the ability to tow (rather than lift) at least 1,000 pounds.Class 5: internal combustion engine sit down rider forklifts with pneumatic tires, suitable for outdoor use on rough surfaces.Class 4: internal combustion engine sit down rider forklifts with cushion tires, suitable for indoor use on hard surfaces.Class 3: electric hand trucks or hand/rider trucks with solid tires.Class 2: electric motor narrow aisle trucks with solid tires.Class 1: electric motor trucks with cushion or pneumatic tires.Materials handling products are what moves all of those essential products around the country.” “Everyone was thinking about the grocery, healthcare and medical supplies the country needed. “As the essential business lists evolved, ITA worked hard to make sure the materials handling industry was included,” he says. Gusler says the ITA worked to ensure the lift truck industry, from manufacturers to dealers to parts distributors, were on the essential business lists at the federal and state levels. In April, the tap got shut off for those kinds of rental demands.” “IC is common in construction as well as rental business, half of which are for events. “In previous economic downturns we would see IC business decline more than electric,” Gusler says. Year-to-date, the ratio of electric to internal combustion units sold was 73:27, compared to 66:34 in 2019 and 64:36 in 2018. So are companies deemed essential in the shutdown and are scrambling to expand operations to keep up with business. The electric forklift segment experienced a boom in demand, driven by big online retailers that are buying more Class 2 and 3 equipment, according to Gusler. The pandemic has not been all bad for the industrial truck market. The market was trending down even before mid-March, but Gusler says the first half of 2020 is only 10% off the same period in 2019. “Another year like 2019 would have been great for our industry.” “Going into 2020 we were cautiously optimistic,” says Jay Gusler, current chairman of the ITA and executive vice president of operations at Mitsubishi Logisnext America (formerly Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America (MCFA)). The combined revenues of the Top 20 grew 2.9% following years of double-digit growth. With North American sales of 242,398 trucks down 6.8%, 2019 still ranks as the third-best year in the half century since the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) began keeping records. The North American lift truck market contracted slightly in 2019, following several consecutive record-setting years.
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