Material handling equipment

Material handling equipment (MHE) is the family of machines used to move, lift, stack, and position cargo and containers in warehouses, depots, and terminals: forklifts, reach trucks, pallet jacks, and the heavy container gear of reach stackers, straddle carriers, and gantry cranes. At a box terminal the quay is worked by ship-to-shore cranes and the yard by rubber-tired or rail-mounted gantries, with reach stackers and straddle carriers shifting boxes between stacks and chassis. MHE selection drives throughput, stacking density, and labor cost; the spreader and twistlocks on each lifting machine engage the container’s ISO 1161 corner castings.