The earliest type of fork trucks was the hand truck. It used two wheels and was very similar to today’s dollies. This device used cast iron wheels and wrought iron axles. Their main advantage was that they allowed heavy loads to be moved without being picked up and placed on a four-wheeled handcart. Dock workers no longer risked hurting their backs lifting these types of objects.

In 1887, one of the earliest types of fork trucks was built. It could lift its loaded platform a few inches off the ground, but it was very weak and wasn’t widely available. A steel version of this type of lift truck appeared in 1909. However, it wasn’t a proper lift truck.

That appeared in 1917 when Clark introduced what they called the Tructractor, the first type of seated counterbalanced vehicle for use in warehouses and factories. Clark originally had no plan on manufacturing these vehicles for others to use—they simply saw a need for the Tructractor in their axle plant. However, when visitors to the plant saw it, they asked to buy the vehicles, and Clark began mass producing them. While it was a basic design, and it certainly influenced forklift technology.