How to Choose the Right Material Handling Equipment for Your Warehouse

Quick answer: Under 50 pallet moves a day, get a manual hydraulic pallet jack; 50-150 moves, go semi-electric; above 150, full-electric pays for itself in labor within a year. Add a stacker or order picker once you're lifting above 6 feet, and budget for column guards and bollards anywhere powered equipment operates.

Material handling equipment is the single biggest line item in most warehouse and distribution budgets, and it's also the easiest place to overspend — or underspend and create a bottleneck. This guide walks through the decisions that actually matter when you're specing pallet jacks, stackers, carts, and dock equipment, using the range of equipment we stock as reference points.

Start with the pallet, not the truck

Before comparing pallet jacks, measure your pallets. Standard GMA pallets are 48" x 40", but plenty of operations run 48" x 48" or custom sizes. Fork spread on a manual or electric pallet truck needs to clear the stringers of your pallet without straddling them — that's why you'll see fork widths like 27" and lengths like 45"–48" as the most common sizing in our Material Handling collection. If you run a mix of pallet sizes, an adjustable-width pallet truck (we carry a 27"W x 27"D x 44"H adjustable-width model) avoids having to stock two different trucks.

Manual, semi-electric, or full-electric — pick based on cycles per shift, not price

The price spread in pallet trucks is enormous — from an entry-level manual hydraulic pallet jack up to a full-electric pallet truck with an integrated scale. The decision isn't really about budget, it's about how many times a day the truck moves a load and how far.

• Manual hydraulic pallet jacks (like our 27" x 48" Premium and Heavy-Duty Lyftex models) make sense for occasional moves — a few pallets a shift, short distances, mostly flat floors. They have no batteries to maintain and effectively no downtime.
• Semi-electric pallet jacks (Lyftex Semi-Electric and Scale models) add powered lift/lower or powered drive while you still steer and walk alongside. These are the right fit once an operator is doing 20–30+ moves a shift and manual pumping starts costing real time and shoulders.
• Full-electric pallet trucks (pricing varies by capacity, ride-on vs walk-behind, and whether a scale is built in) earn their keep when a truck is in near-constant use across a shift, especially over longer distances or with heavier average loads. The electric pallet truck with scale is worth it specifically for operations that need to weigh outbound pallets as part of the pick process rather than running them over a separate floor scale.

If you're not sure which tier you need, a rough rule of thumb: under 50 pallet moves a day, manual is usually fine; 50–150, look at semi-electric; above that, full-electric pays for itself in labor hours within a year for most operations.

Don't forget the vertical equipment

Pallet trucks move loads horizontally at floor level — once you need to lift, stack, or reach beyond about 6 feet, you're in stacker or order-picker territory:

• Straddle stackers (we carry a walkie long-handle straddle stacker) let you lift and stack pallets in racking without a full sit-down forklift, and the straddle legs mean you don't need a counterweight — useful in tighter aisles.
• Scissor lift tables are the right call when the task is repetitive lifting to a working height (e.g., feeding a packing station) rather than moving a load horizontally.
• Order pickers are built for pallet-in-rack, piece-pick operations — if your team is currently using a forklift with a cage attachment to pick individual cartons out of upper rack levels, a dedicated order picker is both safer and faster.

Protect the racking, protect the floor

The equipment that gets overlooked in a materials-handling budget is impact protection — and it's usually far cheaper than the damage it prevents. A single forklift strike that bends a rack upright can cost more to repair (and more in downtime) than a whole run of guards. Our lineup includes:

• Column guards and building column guards for individual rack uprights and structural columns
• Bollards and bollard covers for doorways, dock doors, and equipment corners
• "Stand Guard" ribbed rail for lower-cost, lower-traffic protection runs

A good baseline: guard any column or rack upright within the swing radius of powered equipment, and any door frame or corner that sits on a forklift's regular travel path.

Carts and utility equipment for the smaller moves

Not every move needs a pallet truck. For picking, staging, and internal transport of loose product, utility carts (like our 70" x 20" economical utility cart and recycle cart) and adjustable pallet stands (useful for ergonomic staging at a workstation rather than floor-level pallet storage) round out a warehouse's handling equipment without the cost or footprint of powered equipment.

Quick buying checklist

• Measure your actual pallet footprint and standardize fork width/length to it (or buy adjustable)
• Estimate moves per shift and distance per move before choosing manual vs. semi- vs. full-electric
• Only add a built-in scale if you're currently weighing pallets as a separate step
• Budget for column guards and bollards anywhere powered equipment operates — it's cheaper than one repair
• Match vertical equipment (stackers, order pickers, scissor lifts) to the specific task, not as a forklift substitute by default

Frequently asked questions

What size pallet jack do I need for my warehouse?

Measure your pallets before you shop. Standard GMA pallets are 48" x 40", but many operations run 48" x 48" or custom sizes. Fork spread needs to clear the pallet's stringers without straddling them - 27" width and 45"-48" length are the most common sizes in our Material Handling collection. If you run mixed pallet sizes, an adjustable-width pallet truck is worth the extra cost.

Should I buy a manual, semi-electric, or full-electric pallet truck?

It comes down to how many moves per shift. Under 50 pallet moves a day, a manual hydraulic pallet jack is the most cost-effective choice. Between 50 and 150 moves, a semi-electric unit cuts down on operator fatigue. Above 150 moves, a full-electric pallet truck typically pays for itself in labor savings within a year.

When do I need a stacker or order picker instead of a pallet jack?

Once you're lifting above 6 feet, a pallet jack isn't the right tool. Straddle stackers work well in tight aisles for lifting pallets to lower rack levels, while order pickers are built for piece-picking from pallets already in rack.

Do I need a built-in scale on my pallet truck?

Only if you're currently weighing pallets as a separate step in your process. A built-in scale saves that extra handling step, but it's an added cost that isn't worth it if weighing isn't already part of your workflow.

What protects racking and floors from forklift damage?

Column guards, bollards, and ribbed rail guards protect racking uprights and building structure anywhere powered equipment operates. They're inexpensive relative to the cost of a single rack collision or repair.