Order Pickers

An order picker is a warehouse truck for picking individual cases or items from racking rather than moving whole pallets. The operator rides on a platform that rises with the forks, so they are lifted to the pick face and take goods by hand onto a pallet or cage carried on the forks in front of them. It is the machine for part-pallet picking: a reach truck or counterbalance truck brings a full pallet down, an order picker lets the operator pick from it where it sits.

They come in three broad heights. Low level order pickers pick from the floor and the first beam, with the platform rising a metre or so, and are the common choice for fast-moving goods. Medium level machines reach the second and third levels. High level order pickers, often called man-up trucks, lift the operator many metres into the racking and usually run in narrow aisles on wire or rail guidance. All are electric, indoor machines that want a smooth, level floor.

Capacities are modest compared with a pallet-handling truck, commonly up to about a tonne, because the load is built up by hand. Travel speed, platform height and how quickly the platform rises and lowers matter more than lift capacity: in picking work the truck spends its day stopping, rising, lowering and moving to the next location, and the total of those small movements is what sets the pick rate.

What to check before you buy or hire

• Pick height comes first: the highest beam the operator must pick from, with the platform at full height, decides whether you need a low, medium or high level machine.
• Aisle width and guidance. High level machines are normally used in narrow aisles with wire or rail guidance, so the truck and the racking have to be specified together. A low level machine only needs room to pass and turn.
• Operator protection. Check the platform guarding, gates and harness anchorage, and that the truck comes with its current thorough examination report. Any truck that lifts a person is subject to the lifting equipment regulations and a specific operator training requirement.
• Battery and charging for the shifts you run, and whether the truck is a lead acid or lithium machine, which changes the charging arrangements.
• Load carrier: forks for a pallet, or a fixed deck or cage for loose picking. Ask what the truck is fitted with, as the carrier is often not shown in the listing.
• Floor condition matters as much as for any warehouse truck, and more so for a high level machine, which magnifies any unevenness at height. For pallet handling in the same aisles see reach trucks.

Every truck listed below is offered by a forktrucks.com member. If you cannot see what you need, request a quote and your enquiry goes to members who supply this type of equipment in your area.