Many businesses and consumers are deciding to take more ecological options and are becoming increasingly environmentally friendly. With an increased awareness of ‘green' issues, more systems and processes come to light which are not only harmful to the environment, but also generate a lot of unnecessary costs.

One such example of this is lorry driving. Tonnes of items are transported via articulated truck every single day in the UK alone, each one adding to pollution in the atmosphere, as well as adding traffic to the already busy roads. A lot of this could be prevented by using rail and other transport instead of driving. In fact environmental organisations are actively encouraging laws and incentives that are needed to cut the environmental impact of various industries.

However, it must be understood that reliable transport of goods is essential. Not necessarily just where it involves transporting goods from one national or even global location to another, but within places such as warehouses. In these places having dependable and safe methods of moving heavy and/or bulky objects is a top priority.

One such example of this is moving pallets. Bulky at the best of times, when these are doubled up it would be impractical and dangerous to attempt to transfer them without some sort of aid. This is where pallet trucks come into play. They come in two types, manual and powered, which is used depending on the weight of the pallets to be moved. Both of these are eco-friendly, unlike their larger counterpart, the fork lift truck. This is used when it would be beyond the capabilities of the smaller pallet trucks to move objects; however, it does seem that these are used more than strictly necessary as they make the moving process quicker. Saving time is one thing, but saving the environment is another.

As 2009 progresses, and wallet strings will have to tighten, it would seem that businesses could not only benefit themselves by cutting out practices that are expensive, but also benefit the environment by increasing efficiency and decreasing waste and emissions. With this in mind, does this mean that manual powered pallet trucks will become more popular and take the place of the fork lift truck? Fork lifts can be expensive to obtain initially, often requiring a finance plan to buy. Additionally, the running costs of a forklift truck can run to thousands per month. Regular maintenance of components such as tyres, fuel and moving parts- necessary to keep in line with the Health and Safety Act and ensuring safety in the workplace – is a major contributory factor. On the other hand, manual pallet trucks have fewer components to replace and maintain, which additionally are generally longer wearing than those in fork lifts, and are cheaper to buy outright.

That said, there is a definite place in the industry for forklift trucks. When a load is just too heavy or impractical to move with a manual pallet truck, then the fork lift truck definitely is worth its weight in gold. However for those wanting, not only play their part in helping to conserve the world we live in, but save themselves a few pennies as well, looking at shifting the workload where possible to a greener and cheaper option is a must.