Just imagine warehouse workers relying on their own power to schlep boxes of sundry products around. Well, apparently there are companies in Japan who have foregone traditional forklifts in favor of these human-powered contraptions.
Pedal-power drives the rig and a hand crank raises and lowers the forklift. The maximum payload is only about 30kg (about 66 pounds), but for a facility with lighter-weight loads that’s looking to green-up its act, this could be just the ticket.
Forklifts are typically electric-powered, so they’re actually fairly eco already. Of course human-power would be even lower on the carbon-emitting spectrum. And just think of the difference in physiques between these machines’ operators and the typical, sedentary lift drivers.
Via Momentum Planet.
Related posts:
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Yeah, it’s an interesting paradox, isn’t it? I’ve [url=http://treadly.net/2006/08/16/recommended-reading-road-safety/]rambled on about this[/url] previously.
But how to break that vicious circle (people won’t ride because they [b]feel [/b]it’s unsafe, and while people don’t ride it [b]is [/b]less safe)?