In job ads, "MHE experience" generally refers to experience operating this equipment, such as forklifts, reach trucks or pallet jacks.
Five Types of Material Handling Equipment
Fig. 1 · Comparison
| Item | What it does | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Transport | Moves material from one place to another | Conveyors, cranes, pallet jacks, forklifts, AGVs |
| Positioning | Places material for the next step | Lift tables, dock levelers, hoists, robots |
| Unit load formation | Holds materials together as one load | Pallets, totes, cartons, stretch wrap |
| Storage | Holds material over time | Pallet racks, shelves, carousels, AS/RS |
| Identification and control | Shares the data that coordinates material flow | Bar codes, RF tags, data terminals, EDI |
These five types sort equipment by the job it does. The main groups of transport equipment are conveyors, cranes and industrial trucks. Some storage equipment also moves material, such as the storage and retrieval machines of an AS/RS.
Other outlines group equipment differently, one with eight top-level categories, so the count varies by source.
Common MHE in a Fulfillment Warehouse
General warehouses typically handle goods with forklifts, pallets and racks. An ecommerce fulfillment warehouse may add equipment for picking and packing single orders:
- Storage: pallet racking for bulk stock and shelving or bins for each-picking.
- Moving pallets and cases: pallet jacks, forklifts, reach trucks and order pickers.
- Moving orders: conveyors and sortation, and in some buildings automated guided vehicles (AGVs) or mobile robots.
- Dense or automated storage: carousels and an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS).
- Load formation: pallets, totes, cartons and stretch wrap.
- Tracking: bar code scanners and RFID tags, read into a warehouse management system (WMS).
Not every item fits this equipment. Items too large, heavy, small or irregular for a conveyor are non-conveyable items and are handled separately.
MHE Safety and OSHA Rules
In US general industry, including warehousing, forklifts fall under OSHA's powered industrial truck standard, 29 CFR 1910.178. OSHA's training material groups the commonly used trucks into seven classes, from Class I electric motor rider trucks to Class VII rough terrain forklift trucks, and says the list does not include every truck the standard covers.
- Operator training. The employer must ensure each operator is competent, shown by completing formal instruction, practical training and an evaluation in the workplace.
- Re-evaluation. Each operator's performance must be evaluated at least once every three years, and the employer certifies each operator's training and evaluation.
- Age. Federal youth employment rules (Hazardous Occupations Order 7, 29 CFR 570.58) bar most employees under 18 from operating forklifts in non-agricultural work.
- Clearances. Where mechanical handling equipment is used, 29 CFR 1910.176 requires safe clearances for aisles, loading docks, doorways and turns.
- Rated capacity. OSHA's guidance says employers must display each piece of equipment's rated capacity on it and not exceed it except for load testing.
Industrial pallet racks have their own standard, ANSI MH16.1.
MHE at a 3PL
When you outsource fulfillment, the 3PL usually provides the MHE, so its equipment shapes what it can handle well. Ask a prospective 3PL what storage it has for your products (pallet positions, shelving or bins), whether it uses conveyors or automation for your order volume, how it handles oversized items, and how its forklift operators are trained.