Counterbalance lift trucks are essentially forklifts that are engineered with counterweight at the back of the machine. The counterweight works to balance the weight that the forks are carrying at the front of the cargo. This specific design is engineered to stabilize traditional lift trucks. As far as electric counterbalance lift trucks are concerned, the counterweight is formed by the battery itself.

Practically every lift truck manufacturer will have in their product range, a counterbalance forklift. These equipment will come in a wide variety of fuel sources, configurations, and sizes. These lift trucks can with pneumatic or solid tires. They are capable of working in various applications. These types of lift trucks are outfitted with a range of accessories. Common options and attachments comprise: fork shifts, slip sheet attachments, hydraulic clamps and side shifts just to mention a few.

Counterbalance lift trucks have changed the material handling industry. They have become the cornerstone of distribution and storage systems where they perform loading, stacking, horizontal transport functions and unloading. The average warehouse forklifts are usually used for lift heights less than 20 feet or 6 meters. There have been some recently designed units that are capable of lifting to heights 31 feet or 9.5 meters. The smaller 1-1.8 ton or 4000 lbs. forklifts are the main workhorses within most warehouses. These are the most common units that the majority of small companies would have. The standard warehouse counterbalance forklift is actually a wide-aisle truck that requires about 11 feet or 3 meters to turn in.

Also, the counterbalanced lift truck is not necessarily limited to warehouse settings. They are normally used for carrying containers and heavy use together with basically every application in between. Counterbalance lift trucks are the most widely used and versatile of all materials handling machines.

The counterbalanced lift truck is common in numerous working environments, like production, retail and warehousing. This is because of their versatility and durability. Some of the industrial use consist of: automotive, timber, food and chemical industries.